Jubilation as commandos walk out of Mumbai's Nariman House

Mumbai, Nov 28 (IANS) Cries of jubilation rent the air as Indian commandos emerged Friday evening from Nariman House in south Mumbai after regaining control of the five-storied building from terrorists who had held it for more than 45 hours.

The fate of the hostages, including the Rabbi of the Jewish centre Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife Rivka, was not immediately known. The couple's two-year-old son and a staff member at the centre had managed to escape the building.

The operation to clear the building had begun around 7.30 a.m. Friday when National Security Guard (NSG) commandos dramatically slid down ropes from two military helicopters to the roof of the house. After intermittent firing and heavy shelling, the operation ended at around 6.20 p.m.

The terrorists had seized the building Wednesday night during their coordinated attacks that also saw them storming two luxury hotels, one of which was regained Friday afternoon.