Mumbai, Nov. 27: Maharashtra Police and Indian Army personnel launched a massive manhunt and a firefight early on Thursday morning against terrorists responsible for planned and synchronized serial bomb blasts across Mumbai late on Wednesday night that left at least 78 people killed, including a foreign tourist and a top counter-terror officer.

Police said that about 250 others were injured in the midnight attacks that took place in the heart of the country’s financial capital.

Berlin/Mumbai  - A German member of a European Parliament trade delegation to India described chaos and fear among guests inside a Mumbai hotel, where terrorists are in a standoff with Indian secur

London/Paris  - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown Wednesday condemned as "outrageous" the terrorist attacks in Mumbai and pledged to join the Indian government in a "vigorous response."

"These outrageous attacks in Mumbai will be met with a vigorous response," Brown said.

He had sent a message to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pledging that Britain stood "solidly" behind his government and would assist it in its response.

New Delhi  - A series of coordinated attacks by terrorists across India's financial hub Mumbai late on Wednesday killed at least 78 people, including three senior police officers, and left many more injured, officials and news reports said.

Groups of two to four heavily armed gunmen opened fire with automatic weapons and lobbed grenades in at least eight places in south Mumbai, including the five-star Taj and Trident hotels, the city's main railway terminus, a hospital and a cinema hall.

Armed gunmen were still holed up at the railway station and the Taj and Trident hotels, AN Roy, director general of police of Maharashtra state said. Mumbai is the capital of Maharashtra.

Washington  - The United States condemned the terrorist attacks in India on Wednesday that killed dozens of people and offered US assistance to the Indian government.

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

At least 60 died and many more were wounded after alleged terrorists, armed with guns and explosives, attacked a train station, and hotels and entertainment venues in Mumbai's financial district.