Taj Hotel Attack in Mumbai Puts NowPublic in Worldwide Spotlight

According to many travel sites, Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces are arguably the finest 5 star luxury hotels in India. It appears that their security is not up to the same standard. Terror struck the Hotel today along with many other areas around India (see bottom for NowPublic Coverage). Presently the hotel has fire raging and Terrorists have taken hostages.

NowPublic Editor, Sanjay Jha, was interviewed on Fox News putting NowPublic in the national spotlight, highlighting that NowPublic contributors, located throughout the world, can provide on the spot reporting from anywhere.

See Sanjay Jha NowPublic Editor on Fox Here

Update 9:00 pm ET- Sanjay is being interviewed on Fox News Hannity and Colmes the top Cable news program in this time spot in America

Mumbai attacks reported live on NowPublic, Twitter, Flickr

Online encyclopedia sites including Wikipedia and Mahalo, as well as the citizen media aggregators NowPublic and GroundReport are being constantly updated with new photos, videos and information from Mumbai.

The scale of the attacks, which spanned 12 different locations, meant most media outlets struggled to provide timely, comprehensive accounts. The sheer number of people on the scene, constantly filing reports from their mobile phones, upstaged the relatively small number of professional journalists filing reports from Mumbai.

Source: theage.com.au via politisite

Yes, Twitter is a news source, NowPublic Mentioned as well with a link to the Mumbai Channel

Like a lot of other people, I’ve been following the terrorist attacks in Mumbai (formerly Bombay) throughout the day, using Twitter and blog search and Wikipedia and Flickr and YouTube and pretty much any other tool I can get my hands on. Sites like Global Voices — the excellent blog network set up by Ethan Zuckerman and Rebecca MacKinnon of Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society — and NowPublic have a lot of content, and Amy Gahran of Poynter has a pretty good roundup as well. Searching Twitter for mentions of the word “Mumbai” also produced a steady stream of messages, some of them from people close to the scene.

Source: theglobeandmail.com via politisite

NDT- Mumbai terror drama unfolds on Net-

For those wishing to follow the conversation on microblogging site Twitter, a general search for ‘Mumbai’ will collect everything. There are also geotagged tweets originating from within 15 miles of Mumbai.

Besides Twitter, Netizens are following the chain of events on Wikipedia’s Current Affairs page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Curr…), Mahalo (http://www.mahalo.com/Mumbai_Terrorist_A…) and Now Public (http://www.nowpublic.com/tag/mumbai).

Source: ndtv.com via politisite

Mumbai Terror Attacks

Updates on the bombings and attacks in India’s financial capital Mumbai on November 26, 2008.

A coordinated series of attacks took place across Mumbai – in the crowded Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) railway station; two five-star hotels, the Oberoi Trident and Taj Mahal Palace & Tower; Leopold’s, a popular tourist restaurant; and the police headquarters in South Mumbai.

Reports from the attack zone say that the hotel hostages were liberated and the terrorists “neutralized” late Thursday. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh vowed to catch those responsible and stated that “existing laws will be tightened to ensure there are no loopholes available to terrorists to escape the clutches of the law.”

Tag your stories, photos and videos “Mumbai” to see them featured here.

Source: my.nowpublic.com via politisite

Update 7:00 GMT (UTC) – ‘We want US and British’ say Mumbai gunmen

On Thursday morning at least two gunmen were believed to be holding around half-a-dozen hostages inside the Oberoi, while more hostages were also being held in the city’s Taj Mahal hotel.

Source: google.com via politisite

Update: 0219 GMT (UTC) NDTV Live is reporting that Police stormed the Hotel, 4 Terrorists Killed, 9 Arrested. Police related that the Terrorists came in to the city by Boat. Many people are now being able to leave the hotel. There are still gunshots being heard about the Hotel and Hostages are still being held.

Update: 23:37 GMT (UTC) Al Jazeera is reporting that troops are staging to storm the Taj Hotel

Eye-witness NowPublic – on Mumbai bomb blast

Other crowd-sourcing sites were at work providing coverage as well. At NowPublic, there was first-hand reporting as well.

Twitter and NowPublic, and other crowd-sourcing sites, such as Flickr, were doing a much better job at getting participation.

Forget CNN’s iReport service. The last update on Mumbai was an hour ago.

Source: vator.tv via politisite

APNews Report on Taj Hotel Blast and Hostage Situation

Flames and smoke poured from the Taj early Thursday, and at the Oberoi the military reportedly entered the building and a large explosion was heard shortly afterwards.

Another hostage situation was unfolding at Cama Hospital, CNN’s sister network in India, CNN-IBN reported.

Earlier, A.N. Roy, the police chief of Maharashtra state, said there were ongoing battles at the two five-star hotels.

One witness told local reporters that gunmen tried to find people with U.S. or British passports and took about 15 of them hostage.

Andrew Stevens, a CNN anchor who was staying at the Taj with a CNN crew, estimated about half the hotel’s guests were Westerners.

IBN, quoting police sources, reported hostages were taken at the both hotels.

Gunmen armed with automatic weapons and grenades hit nine sites including the hotels, a cafe, a hospital and a train station in coordinated attacks, police say.

Maharashtra state government spokesman Bhushan Gagrani said 78 people were killed and about 200 wounded, while police confirmed 26 deaths.

U.S. State Department spokesman Robert Wood said: “We are monitoring the situation very closely and stand ready to support the Indian authorities as they deal with this horrific series of attacks.”

Source: wctv.tv via politisite

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