MUMBAI–A Toronto man caught in the middle of terrorist attacks here fled for his life as people were falling around him shot dead or wounded by terrorists in the lobby of the Taj hotel Wednesday.

Raynor Burke, 38, ran toward the pool area, but the gunmen were already there.

In a telephone interview with the Star, Burke said he saw a husband and wife get shot. It took him nearly two hours to escape through a broken window, cut and bruised but otherwise unharmed.

Burke was in the lobby when "a bunch of kids with duffel bags" opened fire on the crowd. "There were body parts everywhere," Burke said.

"It's bedlam," he said by phone around 8:30 p.m. local time Thursday.



Burke, who had just arrived in Mumbai after a round of charity work in southern Indian, said he knew of at least two more Canadians, one woman and one man, caught in the attacks, but didn't know how they fared.

At least 104 people were killed and over 300 injured in targetted attacks on 10 locations in Mumbai.

There have been reports from Indian officials that Canadians were believed to be among the hostages and injured.

Cannon did not take any questions from reporters.

"Consular staff have been accounted for and are actively seeking to locate and assist Canadians in Mumbai," he said.

"This morning I spoke to the Indian foreign affairs minister and relayed to him on behalf of the people of Canada my sincere condolences for those injured and killed in the barbaric Mumbai terror attacks," he said.

"Canada stands united with Indian to combat all forms of terrorism. These attacks have strengthened our resolve to work together for the mutual security and prosperity of our people," he added.

Canadians in need of consular assistance are asked to call Foreign Affairs at 613-996-8885.

Collect calls are accepted.

The highly co-ordinated attacks Wednesday night by bands of gunmen were aimed at two five star hotels, a popular restaurant, a crowded train station, a Jewish centre and at least five other sites.

The militants were armed with assault rifles, hand grenades and explosives.

Indian officials confirmed that Canadians were among the hostages held by suspected Muslim militants.

State's Deputy Home Secretary Bitin Srimali said foreigners being held captive include Canadians, Americans, British, Italians, Swedes, Yemenis, New Zealanders, Spaniards, Turks, a Singaporean and Israelis.

There were no reports of Canadians killed in the attacks.

Among the dead were at least one Australian, a Japanese and a British national, said Pradeep Indulkar, a senior government official of Maharashtra state, whose capital is Mumbai. A German and an Italian were also killed, according to the foreign ministries in the two countries.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh blamed "external forces."

"The well-planned and well-orchestrated attacks, probably with external linkages, were intended to create a sense of panic, by choosing high profile targets and indiscriminately killing foreigners," he said in address to the nation.

A previously unknown Islamic militant group claimed responsibility for the carnage, the latest in a series of nationwide terror attacks over the past three years that have dented India's image as an industrious nation galloping toward prosperity.

The most high-profile target was the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotel, a landmark in Mumbai since 1903, and a favourite watering hole of the city's elite.

The attackers, dressed in black shirts and jeans, stormed into the hotel at about 9:45 p.m. and opened fire indiscriminately.

"I was in the main lobby and there was all of a sudden a lot of firing outside," said Sajjad Karim, part of a delegation of European lawmakers visiting Mumbai before a European Union-India summit.

Suddenly "another gunmen appeared in front of us, carrying machine gun-type weapons. And he just started firing at us ... I just turned and ran in the opposite direction," he told The Associated Press over his mobile phone.

The shooting was followed by a series of explosions that set fire to parts of the century-old edifice on Mumbai's waterfront. Screams were heard and black smoke and flames billowed, continuing to burn until dawn.

The gunmen also seized the Mumbai headquarters of the ultra-orthodox Jewish outreach group Chabad Lubavitch and attacked the Oberoi Hotel, another five-star landmark.

"It seems that the terrorists commandeered a police vehicle which allowed them easy access to the area of the Chabad house," said a spokesman for the Lubavitch movement in New York, Rabbi Zalman Shmotkin.

Around 10:30 a.m., a woman, a child and an Indian cook were seen being led out of the building by police, said one witness.

The child was identified as Moshe Holtzberg, 2, the son of Rabbi Gavriel Noach Holtzberg, the main representative at Chabad house. The child was unharmed, but his clothes were soaked in blood.

Sandra Samuel,44, the cook who pulled the boy out the building, said she saw Rabbi Holzberg, his wife Rivka and two other unidentified guests lying on the floor, apparently "unconscious.

The gunmen appeared to be holed up inside all three buildings on Thursday, nearly 18 hours later, holding foreign and local hostages, as Indian commandos surrounded the buildings.

"We're going to catch them dead or alive," Maharashtra Home Minister R. R. Patil told reporters. "An attack on Mumbai is an attack on the rest of the country."

Gunfire and explosions were heard from the Taj Mahal, the Oberoi and the Chabad facility.

In the afternoon, bodies and hostages slowly emerged from the building. At least three bodies, covered in white cloth, were wheeled out.

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About a dozen hostages including foreigners were also evacuated from the hotel and whisked into a waiting ambulance. Several of them carried small pieces of luggage. One older man was carried into the ambulance by police.

The attackers appeared to have been targeting Britons and Americans.

Alex Chamberlain, a British citizen who was dining at the Oberoi, told Sky News television that a gunman ushered 30 to 40 people from the restaurant into a stairway and, speaking in Hindi or Urdu, ordered everyone to put up their hands.

"They were talking about British and Americans specifically. There was an Italian guy, who, you know, they said: 'Where are you from?" and he said he's from Italy and they said 'fine' and they left him alone. And I thought: 'Fine, they're going to shoot me if they ask me anything – and thank God they didn't," he said.

Chamberlain said he managed to slip away as the patrons were forced to walk up stairs, but he thought much of the group was being held hostage.

The United States and Canada were among the countries that condemned the attacks.

In Washington, White House press secretary Dana Perino said the U.S. "condemns this terrorist attack and we will continue to stand with the people of India in this time of tragedy."

In Ottawa, Prime Minister Stephen Harper condemned the attacks calling them "despicable and cowardly."

"These attacks targeted people from India and around the world. They were attacks on values we hold dear, and we share your loss," Harper said in a statement Thursday.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Lawrence Cannon called the attacks ``savage."

"Canada strongly condemns the savage terrorist attacks in Mumbai, which have left hundreds of innocent civilians injured or killed," Cannon said in a release late Wednesday.

"These cowardly attacks are truly appalling."

Ottawa also issued a travel warning Thursday advising travellers to avoid non-essential travel to Mumbai until the situation stabilizes. "Visitors in the city should monitor local news reports, immediately return to their accommodation and remain indoors," the advisory said.

Meanwhile, Sweden was preparing to send a special ambulance plane to India to evacuate European Union citizens injured in the terror attacks. The country's Foreign Ministry said a Boeing 737-800 has been prepared following a request from the European Union.

Ministry spokesman Anders Jorle says the plane is ready to take off once the EU gives the green light. Jorle said Thursday the plane is equipped with six intensive care units for severely injured patients. It also has space for 23 people with serious but not life-threatening injuries.

The motive for the onslaught was not immediately clear, but Mumbai has frequently been targeted in terrorist attacks blamed on Islamic extremists, including a series of bombings in July 2006 that killed 187 people.

Later Thursday the Indian navy said its forces were boarding a cargo vessel suspected of ties to the attacks.

Later Thursday the Indian navy said its forces were boarding a cargo vessel suspected of ties to the attacks.

Navy spokesman Capt. Manohar Nambiar said Thursday that the ship, the MV Alpha, had recently come to Mumbai from Karachi, Pakistan.

The navy has "located the ship and now we are in the process of boarding it and searching it," he said. Earlier, Indian media showed pictures of black and yellow rubber dinghies found by the shore, apparently used by the gunmen to reach the area.

India has been wracked by bomb attacks the past three years, which police blame on Muslim militants intent on destabilizing this largely Hindu country. Nearly 700 people have died.

Since May a militant group calling itself the Indian Mujahideen has taken credit for a string of blasts that killed more than 130 people. The most recent was in September, when explosions struck a park and crowded shopping areas in the capital, New Delhi, killing 21 people and wounding about 100.

- with files from Asssociated Press



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