After Terror Attack, Indians Rage at Government, Pakistan
Indian officials, accused of ignoring warnings, resign; Pakistan also blamed.
MUMBAI, India, Dec.1, 2008 — -- Mumbai is finally starting to show signs of life; five days after terrorist attacks paralyzed this city and sent shockwaves around the world.
But even as traffic began returning to Mumbai's usually congested streets, the mood of the city today was a mix of grief and anger and survivors have come forward, with harrowing tales.
Officials finished clearing bodies and securing the Taj Mahal hotel, one of the main sites where terrorists held hostages during a 60-hour gun battle with Mumbai police and Indian army commandos.
A Mumbain police spokesperson today told ABC News today the death toll has risen to 188 including nine terrorists. Twenty-nine of the dead were reportedly foreigners, including at least six Americans.
William and Geraldine Stadelmann from Mass. got out of the Taj Mahal hotel alive and told "Good Morning America," they spent hours trapped in their hotel room. "We heard some horrific sounds of what sounded like bombing, so we hit the floor, William said.
The couple e-mailed their family back home trying to get information. Their son "Terry told me your hotel is on fire," but the smoke hadn't gotten to our room yet."
As they prepared to leave there was a heart-stopping knock on their door.
"It maybe the army and it maybe the only way were getting out of here, or it could be the terrorists and we're going to die," William said they thought.
As it turns out it was the army there to rescue them.
Joe and Marilyn Ernsteen were a few floor higher in the Taj and had just turned in for the night. She told "GMA" she woke up hearing explosions and gunshots and then it seemed to go on an on," Marilyn said.
After 12 terrifying hours they decided to make a run for it. "I just wanted to see my kids again, it was just a horrifying experience," Marilyn said fighting back tears.
The one surviving gunman has reportedly told authorities he is a member of a Pakistani group with ties to Kashmir called Lashkar-e-Taiba. For years the group, whose name means "army of the righteous," has been trying to start a war between India and Pakistan over the disputed Himalayan province of Kashmir.
The Pakistan government has denied any role in the attacks and the President said today he is worried that the terror attack will spark a war between the two nuclear capable nations.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called for cooperation from both India and Pakistan. "What we are emphasizing to the Pakistani government is the need to follow the evidence wherever it leads," Rice said today in London. "This is a time for complete, absolute, total transparency and cooperation and that's what we expect."
The FBI sent a team to India over the weekend, marking the first time the agency has collaborated with Indian authorities on an investigation.
President Bush asked Rice to cut short her European visit and head to India later this week.
Vilasrao Deshmukh, the top official of the India's Maharashtra state which includes Mumbai, offered to resign today as did his deputy R.R. Patil, who had sparked outrage by referring to the attacks as "small incidents."
On Sunday, two national government officials responsible for homeland security, including Home Minister Shivraj Patil, resigned.
The Indian government has been heavily criticized for failing to stop the attacks and being too slow to respond.
Citizens held a protest against the government outside the Taj Mahal Hotel on Sunday.
Newspaper headlines underlined the frustration felt by many Indians, with one saying, ""Our Politicians Fiddle as Innocents Die." During the protest outside the Taj Mahal Hotel, some demonstrators even carried placards saying they wished the politicians had been killed in the attacks.
Public anger was also fuelled by reports that the Indian government had received warnings earlier this month of an impending terrorist attack in Mumbai, including information from U.S. intelligence sources.
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