The fate of two MEPs including a British Conservative was uncertain last night as they hid from the gunmen who went on a murderous rampage in the Taj Mahal Palace hotel.

Sajjad Karim, 38, a Conservative MEP for the North West, spoke to Sky News of his ordeal after barricading himself in the basement of the hotel to hide from the attackers before breaking off at around 7pm UK time to conserve his mobile phone battery.

Jan Masiel, 45, a Polish MEP was understood to have been sleeping in his room when the attack began and thought to have stayed there. An official with the European Parliament delegation was also understood to be hiding in his room.

A third MEP who had been in the hotel, Erika Mann, a 57-year-old German Socialist, is understood to have escaped after hiding in the kitchens with other guests who took refuge there when shots were fired at diners in the resaturant.

Last night at 11pm UK time the head of the MEPs’ delegation said that he had maintained text message contact with the two MEPs stranded inside the hotel and that they were fine.

Earlier, speaking by mobile phone from a basement room at about 6pm UK time, Mr Karim said that he and others had fled from machine-gun fire. “I was in the lobby of the hotel when gunmen came in and people started running. There were about 25 or 30 of us,” he said.

“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 I ran into the hotel kitchen and then we were shunted into a restaurant in the basement. We are now in the dark in this room and we have barricaded all the doors. It’s really bad.”

He saw people falling but did not know the extent of any casualties, he said. It seemed to be a random attack.

Mr Karim, Ms Mann and Mr Masiel were on a trade delegation of seven European parliamentarians staying in the Bombay hotel for meetings ahead of a European Union/India summit. The three of them stayed in the hotel rather than accompany four other MEPs to dinner a short walk away from where they heard the drama unfold, powerless to help their colleagues.

Mr Karim told Sky News: “There was a 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.”

Syed Kamall, 41, a Conservative MEP for London and the only other Briton in the group, told The Times that he feared for the safety of his colleagues after losing contact with them. “It is still going on and they are still out there,” said Mr Kamall, speaking at 7.30pm UK time from a restaurant a short distance from the Taj. He left the hotel with several fellow MEPs shortly before the shooting started.

“As I arrived at the restaurant, I got a phone call from Sajjad who said ‘Are you OK? A gunman just rushed past me into the hotel, looked at me and shot someone else.’ ”

Mr Kamall added that a Hungarian assistant with the MEPs had been with a friend in the hotel bar when they were sprayed with bullets. A Hungarian spokesman at the European Parliament said at 9pm that the assistant was still missing in the hotel. The official, who had briefly spoken to the assistant by mobile phone, said: “He was not shot but he had been two metres away from a man who opened fire with a sub-machine gun. Many around him were killed and injured, but not him. He is still not safe.”

Mr Karim was at 10pm UK time still believed to be barricaded in the basement. Mr Kamall said that he had last been in touch with him at about 7pm UK time. “In his last text to me he said ‘I am panicky but I am OK’,” he said.

Mr Kamall later added: “Our hotel is on fire and we saw the commandos storming in.”

An EU spokesman believed Mr Karim was in the basement of the Taj Mahal Palace hotel with a large group of guests and staff. The spokesman thought that Mr Karim had managed to make contact with the British consulate who had advised him to stay put.

Of the seven MEPs on the trade delegation, Mr Kamall could vouch for the safety of three who had accompanied him to the restaurant: Daniel Caspary, 32, a German Christian Democrat; Bela Glattfelder, 41, a Hungarian Christian Democrat, and Ignasi Guardans Cambo, 44, a Spanish Liberal.

The Parliament’s chief spokesman, speaking at 10pm UK time, said: “We fear that three or four people from our delegation are still in the hotel and we are no longer in contact with them.”

Mr Guardans, the head of the MEPs’ delegation, said last night at 11pm UK time: “Erika Mann was in there but she got away with two other members of \ staff who were also hiding.” Mr Guardans added that he had heard explosions at the Taj from the restaurant where he went for dinner.

“We are in contact with the other two and they are fine. We have been getting text messages from them.”

Patrick Cescau, Unilever’s chief executive, visiting Bombay, was reported as safe last night. The management team are “perfectly safe,” a spokesman told the Bloomberg news agency.

Times Recommends

• Please help: maimed children of war want their lives back
• Cabal seizes diamond riches to buy power
• White House gatecrashers got to the president