TERROR NON-STOP: 101 killed in Mumbai attacks

                 SUSPECTED TERRORIST

                PICKING UP THE PIECES

           BLOOD ON THE ROAD

                         RUNNING TO LIVE

                             INNOCENT LIVES LOST     

                                          VIOLENT DEATH

                              VALUE OF LIFE?

                        VEHICLE OF DEATH

                   Blast site ... near airport in Mumbai

Mumbai: At least 101 people, including a foreign tourist and a top counter-terror officer, were killed and about 287 injured as terrorists struck in the heart of Mumbai in planned and synchronized attacks.

Terrorists held people hostage in two five-star hotels, the Taj Intercontinental and Trident (formerly Oberoi) facing the waterfront across the Arabian Sea, and the Madam Cama Hostel.

Three top police officials, including Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare, were among the nine policemen killed in gunfights with the terrorists, police confirmed.

Among terror targets was the city's busiest railway station, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST). "This is a most audacious attack. It is a very serious situation and gun battles are still on in at least three places," said Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh.

Deshmukh confirmed early Thursday morning that terrorists had struck at 10 places.

Mumbai Police Commissioner Hasan Ghafoor said the attacks were suspected to be "coordinated terrorist acts", and added that automatic weapons like AK-47 and AK-56 and semi-automatic rifles as well as grenades were apparently used.

Maharashtra government spokesman Bhushan Gagarani confirmed 78 people were killed and 287 injured.

Small groups of heavily armed terrorists sneaked into busy public places, mostly in south Mumbai, in the dead of the night spreading panic in the city.

Many of the locations targeted, mostly in upscale south Mumbai, were favourite destinations of foreign tourists, like the Leopold Restaurant in Colaba. The restaurant was riddled with bullet holes and there were blood on the floor and shoes left by fleeing customers. 

"The terrorists have gone in and fired indiscriminately at certain places. They are still holed up in three places and gun-battles have been on (with security forces)."

Five people were killed in a bomb blast targeting a taxi in Vile Parle. The taxi was blown to pieces, police said.