Graphic: how terror spread | They came to kill and maim | Survivors' tales | Analysis: Bronwen Maddox | Andreas Liveras shot dead | The specialist in 'encounter killings' | Was al-Qaeda was pulling the strings? | Opinion: Maria Misra | Leading article: Massacre in Bombay

India pointed an accusing finger at Pakistan yesterday as commandos fought suspected Islamist terrorists through the corridors of two of Bombay’s top hotels. Dozens of foreigners were still being held hostage or trapped in the buildings.

At least 125 people were killed and 327 wounded in Wednesday’s attacks on some of the city’s most high-profile buildings. Local hospitals and police said that the toll would rise further.

Nine foreigners were among the dead, including one Briton, a Japanese businessman, an Australian, a German and an Italian. Andreas Liveras, a 73-year-old British shipping tycoon, was shot dead moments after telling reporters that he was hiding in the basement of the Taj Mahal Palace.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office would not say how many British citizens were injured, trapped or being held hostage at the Taj Mahal and Oberoi hotels. Between 15 and 20 French nationals were inside.

Seven people were rescued from a residential complex that houses a Jewish centre. The Israeli Embassy said that ten of its citizens were being held hostage. A militant inside called a television channel to offer talks with the Government. He complained about rights abuses in Kashmir, over which India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars since 1947.

The Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, blamed the multiple attacks on forces “outside the country”, a thinly veiled reference to Pakistan. The Indian Navy boarded a cargo ship that had recently arrived in Bombay from Pakistan. The tension conjured memories of a militant attack on the Indian Parliament in 2001, which almost sparked a fourth war between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

Helicopters buzzed and crowds cheered as commandos moved into the Oberoi, where 20 to 30 people were thought to have been taken hostage and more than 100 were trapped in rooms. Gunshots rang out and flames billowed from a window.

The Taj Mahal hotel was also rocked by explosions and gunfire. Police claimed that only one injured militant remained in the building.

*Foreign Office phone line for concerned relatives: 020 7 0080000

Times Recommends

• New York has lost its edge
• Copenhagen will fail – and quite right too
• More than 17,000 new underwater species found