2 Virginians among 160 dead in Bombay

Indian commandos clear out remaining hot spots

By Ashish Kumar Sen | Saturday, November 29, 2008

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NEW DELHI | Sporadic gunfire continued Saturday in the historic Taj Mahal hotel as one of the worst terrorist sprees in India's commercial capital drew to a close.

By Saturday morning, the death toll had risen to 160, including five Americans.

A Virginia man and his teenage daughter, along with a rabbi from New York and his wife, were among those killed.

The Virginians, Alan Scherr, 58, a former University of Maryland professor, and daughter Naomi, 13, died at the luxury Oberoi Hotel. They were visiting India with the meditation group Synchronicity. The group, announcing the deaths on Friday, said Mr. Scherr had been an integral member of the community for more than a decade since moving to Faber, Va.

Naomi "was passionate, if not a little mischievous, and will be fondly remembered by many of us for colorful hairstyles and radiant energy," the statement said.

On Friday night, the New York-based Chabad Lubavitch movement confirmed that Rabbi Gavriel Noach Holtzberg and his wife, Rivkah, had been killed at a Jewish center under siege in Bombay. The Holtzbergs moved from the United States to India in 2003 to run the Bombay branch of the outreach organization. The couple's 2-year-old son was evacuated from the Chabad House earlier in the crisis.

Three Germans, two French citizens, an Italian, an Australian and one Singaporean were also among at least 22 foreigners killed. Sixteen policemen, two commandos and 11 terrorists also died. An additional 327 people were injured.

Police said they had cleared the Oberoi Hotel, killing two militants and freeing hundreds of trapped guests. Thirty-six bodies were found, and law enforcement personnel were searching the building for survivors.

A chief of an Indian navy commando unit flushing terrorists out of the Taj Mahal hotel said he saw up to 15 bodies in one room. Military sources said early Saturday that the operation could take a few more hours to wrap up.

• Click here for an AP interactive map and here for an AP timeline. (Warning: Some images are graphic.)

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