Update to the terrorist activity

It's after 11 am and over 12 hours since the activity began, it's still going on. There are terrorists holed up on a floor in one hotel and they're still at the Taj Hotel as well.

By now you may have seen pictures of the Taj Hotel on fire on TV or the internet. It's a beautiful Colonial structure from the early 1900's and a major landmark for the city, much like the World Trade Center was for New York.

The news here is predicting that tourism will be impacted by this. They're calling it Mumbai's 9/11, which will mean that they'll take a harder stance on security.

I thought security at the JW Marriott was fairly tight. Similar to what I saw in Malaysia and the Philippines. All guests must go through a metal detector to enter. They restrict the cars that can drive up to the lobby and first inspect the trunk and hood of each car. I don't see bomb sniffing dogs here.

I'm a bit baffled as to why it took almost 6 hours for the army to storm the hotels where the terrorists have taken hostages. It doesn't appear that the government was really prepared for such an attack, although relations between Muslims and Hindus have been strained for some time.

And how on earth did two police vehicles get stolen by the terrorists? Makes me question the competency of the police force here.

The office is closed today and I've been told to stay in the apartment. Although there was one day that I wanted to give up on the idea of staying in an apartment, in hindsight I'm grateful that I had the resilience to not give up. It was meant to be in order to secure my safety.

Wow...a walking shrine on a cart just made its way down the street with its loudspeaker blaring a song. I wish I could post a photo. What a blessed sight....