Troops storm the Jewish centre but hostages 'are dead'

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A senior officer said they found five bodies after blowing a hole in the side of the building. A rabbi and his wife were among those held by militants at the Nariman centre.

Heavy gunfire was heard as around 20 commandos were airdropped onto the roof of the centre as helicopters circled.

However, the Israeli rescue service Zaka, an ultra-orthodox organisation, said they feared all nine hostages were dead.

Rabbi Gabriel Noch Holzberg and his wife Rivka ran a café and a synagogue for the Hasidic Chabad Lubavitch group at the centre. Their two-year-old son was seen leaving the building yesterday in the arms of a woman. It was not clear whether they escaped or had been released. In another commando raid, a unit chief described seeing around 50 bodies as he and his troops stormed the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel.

Clad in black, with a mask covering his face, the chief told how bodies littered the five-star hotel, with at least 30 in one hallway and up to 15 in one room. Commandos fought room-to-room running battles with the gunmen. The chief said: "The bodies were strewn here and there and we had to be careful as we entered the building to avoid further bloodshed of innocent civilians."

He said 200 guests at the hotel were rescued at first light.

Of the terrorists, he said: "They were wearing T-shirts, just ordinary looking. But they have definitely been trained to use weapons. There is no way they could handle such weapons without being taught how to."