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MUMBAI - Scores of guests were still trapped in two luxury hotels in Mumbai Thursday, officials said, after heavily-armed Islamist militants stormed the buildings, taking foreign nationals hostage.
Army chief for the western Indian states of Maharashtra, Goa and Gujarat Major R.R. Hooda said an estimated 40 to 50 people remained inside the Taj Mahal hotel, amid sporadic gunfire between commandos and the militants.
"In this area there are four to five terrorists," he told reporters.
There was no official confirmation of the numbers trapped in the nearby Trident hotel, although local media reports said seven to eight people were being held.
An unspecified number of foreigners including Americans, Israelis and Canadians are thought to be among those in the two hotels and in Nariman House, a residential complex with an old Jewish prayer hall.
"No negotiations or talks have started with the terrorists," Maharashtra state deputy chief minister R.R. Patil told reporters outside the landmark Taj.
Patil said that television signals to both hotels had been switched off to prevent the hostage takers getting wind of any operations to storm the buildings.
- AFP /ls
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