MEPs escape Mumbai terror attacks

A group of MEPs caught up in the Mumbai terrorist attacks are all reported to be safe and well according to European parliament officials.

A parliament official told this website that the seven MEPs, Sajjad Karim, Syed Kamall, Erika Mann, Béla Glattfelder, Ignasi Guardans Cambó, Daniel Caspary and Jan Masiel as well as parliament staff members were all safe and were currently lodged across the city at various national embassies.

Three MEPs narrowly escaped with their lives when gunmen stormed the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, during a series of coordinated attacks across Mumbai.

British MEP Sajjad Karim came face-to-face with the terrorists as they stormed the hotel.

“I was in the lobby of the hotel when gunmen came in and people started running. There were about 25 or 30 of us.”

“Some of us split one way and some another. A gunman just stood there spraying bullets around, right next to me.”

"I managed to turn away and ran into the kitchen and then we were shunted into a restaurant in the basement.”

"There was a lot of commotion in the main lobby, and then another gunman came right in front of us and started shooting. I saw a number of people go down, but I was fortunate enough to get away.”

Karim and other terrified hotel guests barricaded themselves into a basement room, where the Tory MEP spoke to journalists by mobile phone.

"We are now in the dark in this room and we've barricaded all the doors. It's really bad,” Karim said last night before eventually escaping.

Woken up by the sound of gunfire Polish MEP Jan Masiel watched the terrorists through the spy hole in his bedroom door.

“I kept the lights down and saw a group of armed men in the corridor.” They were followed by four or five tourists with rucksacks,” Masiel told Polish press agency PAP.

“I saw people being led out of the hotel.  They could have been hostages, but I’m not sure.”

Erika Mann managed to escape after hiding in the hotel kitchen when gunmen opened fire on diners in the restaurant.

All three MEPs managed to make their way out as Indian Rapid Action Force commandos began surrounding the hotel on Wednesday evening.

The MEPs were in Mumbai as part of an international trade committee delegation.

Spanish deputy, Ignasi Guardans who had earlier left the hotel to eat at a nearby restaurant told Spain's Radio Nacional network that “ten minutes after leaving the hotel the shooting began.”

"The worst is that it seems that the terrorists are driving around Mumbai shooting in the air and hurling grenades from cars," he said.

The coordinated attacks, on at least three major hotels, the Chhatrapati Shivaji railway station and a hospital left scores of dead and injured.  Details are still sketchy, but press reports say that the dead could number more than 100.

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