Troops launch bid to free hostages

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Heavy gunfire was heard as commandos were dropped by helicopter on to the roof of a Jewish centre where at least 10 hostages are believed to be held.

Troops are also still sweeping two luxury hotels room by room looking for hostages and gunmen. Seven more foreign captives were freed from the Oberoi Hotel and more than 400 people were brought out of the Taj Mahal on Thursday.

British citizen Nicole Griffen said she was rescued by Indian special forces from the Taj Mahal.

She told Radio 5 Live: "They entered and looked through our passports and scouted around to see if there were [anyone] harbouring terrorists or attackers and then we were promptly told where to go by the central stairway and again we were asked to wait with other guests while they checked other floors and checked other rooms and we all congregated into one space where they could protect us centrally."

One Briton is confirmed to be among the 143 people killed when gunmen launched co-ordinated attacks on targets in central Mumbai, including the two hotels and the city's packed railway station on Wednesday.

Andreas Liveras, the founder of a luxury yacht business who was in his 70s, was pronounced dead on arrival at St George's Hospital in the city. More than seven other Britons were among the 300 injured in the attacks.

Scotland Yard officers travelled to Mumbai to help Indian authorities as they struggled to restore order in the city. A Metropolitan Police spokesman confirmed officers were on their way to Mumbai but he said he could not give any details about what they would do there.

A group calling itself Deccan Mujahideen has claimed responsibility for the attacks. But experts said they had never heard of the organisation and suggested that the radical Students Islamic Movement of India (Simi) might have been behind the massacre.

The England cricket team postponed its final one-day matches against India amid fears for players' safety. They will fly back to Britain on Friday but intend to return to India in time to start a Test series on December 11.