First pictures of burned-out rooms inside Mumbai terror siege hotel



The first pictures of burned-out rooms at a luxury Mumbai hotel where terrorists were holed up for three days were released today after the siege ended.



The shocking images emerged after crack troops killed the remaining three insurgents at the five-star Taj Mahal after a fierce one-hour gun battle.



At least 195 people were killed in a series of ten coordinated attacks which began on Wednesday - but the death toll is likely to rise much further.



Burned out: Wreckage inside the Taj Mahal hotel after the Mumbai siege ended



Elite National Security Guard commandos said they discovered 30 bodies in a single room after storming the Taj Mahal hotel at 7.30am.

Authorities said that nine of the ten terrorists who arrived in India's financial capital by boat . One was captured during the intense standoff.

The revelation comes after claims that up to seven of the 10 Islamic militants could have been British.

Explosions continued rock the 565-room hotel hours after it was relieved as troops detonated bombs left by the terrorists.

Search: The grim task of looking for bodies in the 565 rooms began today



Firefighters were also sent in to put out raging flames on the outside of the 105-year-old building.



Announcing the siege was over, J.K. Dutt, director general of National Security Guard said: 'There were three terrorists, we have killed them.'



Soldiers have also begun the grim task up searching for bodies in the Taj Mahal.

No Britons are thought to be among the 100 guests in the hotel when the siege began, but the Foreign Office today said they couldn't rule it out.



But one Briton and 14 other foreigners were among those killed elsewhere in the city.

Destruction: The Taj Mahal's lobby has debris strewn across its marble floor



Last night some reports claimed that as many as seven of the group of terrorists had British connections, with several supposedly having links to Bradford, West Yorkshire.



German MEP Erika Mann, who was part of a delegation from Brussels caught up in the attacks, said she had been told there was a 'European dimension' and that 'English citizens' were among the insurgents.

There were also reports that the terrorists checked British news websites on their mobile phones during the attacks.

Gordon Brown urged caution, saying Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had made no mention of any British link when they spoke yesterday.

Cover: Soldiers in sniper positions as a gun battle rages inside the Taj Mahal Hotel



But he added: ‘There is so much information still to be discovered. Obviously, where you have terrorists operating in one country they may be getting support from another country or coming from another country.’

The meticulous planning of the Mumbai attacks has been compared with the 2005 London bombings which left 52 people dead.



These were carried out by Britons of Pakistani origin, two of whom had trained in camps in Pakistan’s lawless tribal area.



Investigators are also looking into possible links between the Mumbai terrorists and Rashid Rauf, from Birmingham.



Relief: An army officer, left, congratulates an elite National Security Guard commando after they killed the remaining three terrorists in Mumbai



Rauf is said to have been a key figure in a plot to blow up planes leaving Heathrow.



He is reported to have died last week in an American missile strike.

The other major development of the day was that masked commandos ended the siege at the luxury Oberoi Hotel, freeing dozens of hostages.



One soldier described stepping over dozens of bodies in darkened corridors slick with blood.



He said: ‘The gunmen showed no remorse to anybody – whoever came in front of them they fired at.’



He added that the Oberoi was filled with terrified guests, making the task even harder.

Freed: A baby is carried to safety

He said the troops played a game of cat and mouse through the hotel’s rooms, with the terrorists moving skilfully from place to place, often switching off lights and plunging rooms into darkness.



British hostage Mark Abell, 51, a lawyer, described the scene of carnage when he was led through the Oberoi’s lobby to safety.



‘There was blood and guts everywhere,’ he said. ‘It was very upsetting.’



Fellow hostage Peter Worth told how some of the gunmen had smiled at one another while they sprayed hotel guests with bullets.



‘It was as if they were laughing and enjoying the fear as they tried to kill us,’ said the 32-year-old engineer, from Bristol.

Burning: Flames pour from the Taj Mahal hotel as troops move to rout the gunmen



Nearby, as darkness fell, shooting continued at the five-star Taj Hotel where up to six gunmen were said to be holed up.



Throughout the day, commandos had fought a running battle with the besieged gunmen. They had abseiled from helicopters on to the roof the hotel at daybreak.



A series of explosions rocked the building and Indian commandos blew giant holes in the walls of the landmark building using grenades.

CNN reported the government had cut off their live transmissions from the scene in Mumbai.



Authorities have asked not to show live broadcasts of the battle because they believe the gunmen were monitoring the news. Most channels largely obliged.



At Nariman House, which houses a Jewish centre, a rabbi and his wife were among six civilians killed. Some of the victims had been bound.



Their deaths left their two-year-old son – who was smuggled out on Thursday – orphaned.

A little-known group called the Deccan Mujahideen has claimed responsibility for the well-planned operation.



A National Security Guards commando ropes down from a helicopter onto the roof of Nariman House

The terrorists carried floor plans of the hotels as well as machine guns, grenades, AK-47s and plastic explosives.



They each had supplies of dried fruit and water and some carried satellite telephones and mobiles.



The militants were split into two groups – one responsible for the attacks in north Mumbai; the other for those in the south at the Jewish centre and the hotels.

Many senior Indian officials including the foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee have blamed 'Pakistani elements' for the attacks, and one captured gunman had already been identified as Pakistani.



The gunmen came to Mumbai in a hijacked boat.

Authorities stopped a cargo ship off the west coast of Gujarat that had sailed from Saudi Arabia and handed it over to police for investigation.