Mumbai  - Mumbai was paralyzed Thursday as government forces tried to secure two posh hotels after terrorists killed scores of people in overnight attacks across India's cosmopolitan financial capital.

Gunmen carried out 10 coordinated assaults in one of India's worst-ever terrorist attacks, which occurred in the wealthiest parts of Mumbai, killing at least 87 people, according to authorities. Non- governmental estimates put the death toll close to 100.

More than 200 people were wounded.

On Thursday, hundreds of people were still believed to be trapped or hiding inside the hotels. Government officials said that gunmen could be holding hostages inside the two landmark hotels - the Trident and the Taj, India's most famous hotel. The counterterrorism National Security Guard, the Indian Army and Navy were on the scene assisting local police.

On Thursday morning, there was widespread confusion with the city in lockdown and reports of sporadic gunfire and explosions continuing at both hotels and other sites.

Schools and colleges were closed as well as the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The Deccan Mujahideen, a previously little-known group, made e-mail claims of responsibility for the attacks.

Indian police said that they had killed at least five suspected terrorists and arrested nine while two had escaped. Authorities said 11 police officers were slain in gunbattles, including Heman Karkare, chief of the Maharashtra state anti- terrorist squad.

Australian soap opera star Brooke Satchwell described how she hid inside a Taj bathroom cupboard as gunmen were shooting other guests.

"As I stepped inside the lobby, gunshots were starting to go off," the 28-year-old Neighbours actor told a local television station.

"There was probably about six of us in the bathroom, and everybody froze, and then I think adrenalin kicked in, and it became pretty clear what was going on," she said. "People started to lock themselves in the toilet cubicles, but at that point that didn't seem like a very clever idea. There was no way out."

"It was really terrifying," she said. "There were people getting shot in the corridor. There was someone dead outside the bathroom."

Terrorist attacks are not new to Mumbai, a city that has prided itself in the past on picking up and moving on immediately after devastating attacks. But Wednesday's attack was different from the others - heavily armed men in groups of two to four opened fire with automatic weapons and lobbed grenades at especially high-profile locations.

The targets included establishments popular with both domestic and foreign tourists in plush southern Mumbai - the main train station, a cafe, a cinema hall and the luxury hotels. Explosions were also reported at two hospitals, in two taxis and at a petrol station.

After dawn Thursday, plumes of black smoke were billowing from the majestic Taj Mahal hotel, whose domed roof had caught fire. The popular Taj overlooks Mumbai's main landmark, the Gateway of India. Officially opened in 1924, it was literally the archway into India at a time when most visitors arrived in the country by ship.

The Taj and Trident have hosted kings, presidents and business tycoons such as Bill Gates and Rupert Murdoch.

Australian Foreign Minister Simon Crean described the attacks as an "appalling assault" on India's people and democracy.

"Whoever they are, [the terrorists] are condemned in the strongest possible forms," he said. "This is a cowardly act. It's indiscriminate. It's a terrorist act."

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Wednesday condemned the attacks as "outrageous" and pledged to join the Indian government in a "vigorous response." He sent a message to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pledging that Britain stood "solidly" behind his government and would assist it in New Delhi's response.

In Paris, the French government, speaking as the current European Union president, issued a statement expressing condolences to the families of the victims and condemning the violence.

"We strongly condemn the terrorist attacks that have taken place in Mumbai, India," US State Department deputy spokesman Robert Wood said in Washington. "Our sympathies go out to the families and friends of those killed and injured and to the people of Mumbai."

For Mumbai's residents, the attacks were an unsettling reminder of the 13 serial bomb blasts that devastated the city on March 12, 1993, leaving 200 dead and more than 1,000 wounded. (dpa)