Tel Aviv  - No Israelis have been freed from the Jewish centre in Mumbai where an unknown number of hostages and about three terrorists are believed to be holed up, Israel's consul general to Mumbai said Friday morning.

Orna Sagiv said a group of people freed Thursday appeared to have been local Indians evacuated from a home in the same compound, not the Israelis held hostage in the Jewish centre in Nariman House.

Overall, about 30 Israelis were still unaccounted for, she told Israel Radio, although she stressed they likely included some backpackers who might have already left Mumbai and, therefore, could not be reached.

An unknown number of them were believed to be in the Jewish centre and most likely also in the Oberoi Trident hotel, she said. No Israelis were in the Taj hotel.

The two luxury hotels and the Jewish centre were hit in coordinated attacks across India's largest city that began Wednesday night. The attackers also opened indiscriminate fire and lobbed grenades at Mumbai's busiest railway station, hospitals, police headquarters and a restaurant popular with foreigners.

Police said 125 were killed and more than 320 people, including 22 foreigners, were wounded.

Sagiv said the rescue operation at Nariman House started early Friday. Live television footage showed Indian commandos dropping from a helicopter onto the roof of the five-story building, a centre of the ultra-Orthodox Chabad movement, which has facilities across the globe where Jewish travellers tend to meet.

The fate of the rabbi and his wife who run the centre remained unknown. Israel Radio reported the commandos were proceeding slowly because the couple might still be alive although there were fears they have been killed.

Sagiv said the couple's toddler son, who was rescued from the building by his nanny, was doing well, adding his Israeli grandparents had landed in Mumbai to care for him.

"As far as we know, he is just fine," the consul general told the radio station. "He slept. He ate. Of course, he's asking about his parents."

She said the nanny had managed to escape by running outside the building from the ground floor "when she saw an opportunity." (dpa)