Shot through the Heart

Aditya Sengupta — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 01:34:05 +0000

Final Edit 00:20 Nov 30

Please note that the following post applies to an event that is currently underway, and may not be updated. This post may be modified as time passes. Visit http://twitter.com/Sengupta for the latest updates:

edit 14:35, Nov 28: NSG head: Both terrorists at the Oberoi/Trident have been killed. Oberoi/Trident under army control.

Pranab Mukherjee, External Affairs Minister: Elements from Pakistan responsible for Mumbai Terror Attack. Proof cannot be disclosed. New Delhi is expected to take this up with Islamabad. The mobile phone captured from the terrorist indicates calls from Karachi. via TimesNow.

edit 11:10, Nov 28: Excerpts from the press interview by Lt. Gen. Thamburaj: One terrorist is moving between two floors of the Taj Heritage building- has shut off electricity to the Dance floor, two terrorists killed yesterday evening in a firefight, almost all the guests and staff have been evacuated. Possible that this this terrorist has 2 or more hostages, or that there may be 2 terrorists. Some of the hotel guests may have locked themselves in. We’re not blowing opening the doors even after having identified ourselves, for their own safety. The NSG commandos have suffered some casualties. I’m not in a position to elaborate on the casualties (fatal or nonfatal). Operations had to be deliberate and slow as the lives of the hostages were at risk. Don’t want to suffer casualties because of a hurry. Cooperation from the Police, Air Force and Navy. First people to respond were the MarCos- Marine Commandos. Able to put together an ad hoc Crisis Management Center, coordinated by Gen. Sisodiya and Gen. Hooda. Media role commendable. Should be able to wrap up things in a few hours

It’s been about 8 20 24 35 odd hours (as of this post) since a huge siege of Mumbai began, with gunmen ripping through several iconic targets in the heart of the city. Details are sketchy coming out right now, but from what I’ve been able to gather from several news sources (primarily the CNN-IBN and NDTV news channels), the sites that have been hit are:

The Taj Mahal Palace and Tower (Persistent shootings, grenade (and possibly RDX) explosions, fires on a number of floors and a hostage situation)

The Oberoi/Trident Hotel (Shootings, explosions, fire and hostage situation)

Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus/Victoria Terminal (The final Train station/headquarters of the Central and Harbour railway lines in Mumbai)(Shootings, explosions)

Nariman House (a Chabad house owned by Chabad Lubavitch an orthodox Jewish movement) (Persistent shootings, explosions, hostage situation)

Cama Hospital (Hostage situation, gun-shots)

Petrol Pump in South Mumbai (Grenade explosion)

Leopold Cafe (Heavy gunshots)

Metro Cinema (Shootings from carjacked police jeep)

South Mumbai Police Headquarters (Shootings)

Vile Parle (Explosion in car)

Mazgaon Docks (Explosion)

Several other possible situations were reported at a number of locations like Napean Sea Road, Borivali and Santa Cruz. As of the final edit, these situations have not been substantiated, but are widely believed to have been rumours.

More than 80 125 160 individuals were reported to have been killed, and over 250 327 injured. ATS Chief Hemant Karkare, encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar and ACP of Police, Ashok Kamte were reported to have been killed, along with several other high ranking policemen. NSG personnel are reported to have been killed as well.

A terrorist outfit called the Deccan Mujahideen is reported to have claimed responsibility. edit: “Intercepts show terrorists speaking in Punjabi,” GoC- Army, via NDTV

Westerners, primarily Americans and Britishers are said to have been the primary targets during this siege. They were apparently rounded up from their rooms at the hotels listed above and held hostage. The status of the hostage situation, as of this post is not yet known.

The terrorists have had hijacked a police vehicle and one or more civilian vehicles and have not been apprehended yet. Indiscriminate firing was reported from these vehicles.

Some important contact details: via Pinstorm’s guide, Mumbai Help, Mumbai Police and Twitter

Hospitals:

St. George Hospital: (022) 22820242
J J Hospital: (022) 23735555,
Bombay Hospital: (022) 22067676 extn 216
K.E.M.Hospital: (022) 24137517
G.T. Hospital: (022) 22630553

Blood Donations:

J J Hospital Blood Bank: (022) 23739400
Cama Hospital Blood Bank : 022) 22611648
St. George Hospital Blood Bank: (022) 22620344, 22620242

For Foreigners:

Canadians:
Foreign Affairs: 1-613-996-8885 from Canada, 1-800-387-3124 from elsewhere

USA:
Help line number US: State Department number” 888.407.4747 Foreign Affairs: 1-613-996-8885

United Kingdom:
Forgeign Office Emergency Telephone Number – 0207 00 800 00.

Brazilians:
Brazilian help line +919820686143 (C)

Australians:
In Mumbai1800 002 214
International +61 2 6261 3305

France, Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Ministère des affaires étrangères
+ 33 (0) 1 45 55 80 00

Nationals of all European Union countries who need assistance in Mumbai can go to the consulate of any of the 27 Member States to receive assistance, announced European ministers in Brussels. (via Briskette’s comment below. Original source here)

Other embassies and consulates in India: http://www.embassiesabroad.com/embassies-in/India

Hotel Helplines (via Twitter):

Taj Hotel: 1800-111-825
(022) 66574322
(022) 66574372
(022) 6665 3366

Trident Hotel: (022) 23890606 (20), 1800 11 2122, International numbers

Oberoi Hotel: (022) 23890606, (022) 23890505

Other Helplines:

Police Control Room: 100
Fire Brigade Control Room: 101
Railway Police Control Room: (022) 23081725, (022) 23007476
Naval Control Room (022) 22663030
Intelligency Bureau Control Room (022) 26522631, (022)26520055

Some thoughts:

One of the most interesting things to note has been the speed at which information has been spread using social media sites, particularly the micro-blogging site, Twitter. You can find my updates here: http://twitter.com/sengupta. Updates on Twitter appeared over an hour before it CNN began covering it. More thoughts on this later.

Useful Links:

Lists of dead and injured (scroll down to find a sortable list embedded in this page). Final Edit: Please note that this list is the one that was initially posted by n to Mumbai Help:

Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
Page 5

Final Edit: Here are the latest lists of deceased and injured.

To find what people are currently saying about the issue, this might be a good place to begin: http://search.twitter.com/search?q=mumbai

Another useful source of information might be: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/26_November_2008_Mumbai_attacks

Pictures from the site: http://flickr.com/photos/vinu

Arun Shanbag has been posting pictures as well: http://arunshanbhag.com/2008/11/26/mumbai-blasts-taj-is-burning/

Map of attack sites (via Wikipedia):

Sortable list of dead and injured:(via Mumbai Help)

List of evacuees from the Trident/Oberoi (via CNN-IBN)

Please feel free to add details and make corrections in the comments section.

My New Document Scanner

Aditya Sengupta — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 13:28:49 +0000

Here’s what you can do with a cellphone with a good camera, a telescope stand and a bluetooth connection:

Reenter the blogosphere

Aditya Sengupta — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 22:34:58 +0000

Welcome to my new new blog!

It’s been a while since the last time I blogged- December, ‘07. I had to stop back then more for the lack of time than anything else. Since then, I have meant to get back, but I did want to start afresh. This blog is an attempt.

This is the first post on this blog. All the other posts you see listed as older entries are simply posts imported from the previous blog, My Easel. Before you ask, and although it’s listed on the About page, here’s what Vignetting means:

Vignetting- vi·gnette (vn-yt)

n.

1. A decorative design placed at the beginning or end of a book or chapter of a book or along the border of a page.

2. An unbordered picture, often a portrait, that shades off into the surrounding color at the edges.

3.

a. A short, usually descriptive literary sketch.

b. A short scene or incident, as from a movie.

tr.v. vi·gnet·ted, vi·gnet·ting, vi·gnettes

1. To soften the edges of (a picture) in vignette style.

2. To describe in a brief way.

[French, from Old French, diminutive of vigne, vine (from the use of vine tendrils in decorative borders); see vine.]

This site’s been up for less than a week as of this post. There still are a couple of bugs to be sorted out, which I’ll try and get to as soon as I can. If you find any bugs, such as dead links, or misdirected URLs, let me know.

Send any feedback you might have to feedback (at) vignettinglife (dot) com.

PS. Tomorrow (today technically) is Gelato day (Thanks for the heads up, Zai). Gotta get to bed soon! More to come. Cheers!

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Shot through the Heart

My New Document Scanner

Reenter the blogosphere