Trapped in hotel room with bombs all around

Britons trapped in Mumbai hotels told today of their terror as gun battles continued to rage around them.

Dozens were feared to have been taken hostage while at least one Briton was confirmed dead today. Indian hospitals named three Britons seriously injured by bombs or gunshot.

A London lawyer sent the Evening Standard an email from his hotel room - with gunfire and bombs around him -- describing his situation as "pretty dire". Mark Abell was still barricaded in his room at the Oberoi. In his email at 10.50am today, he wrote: "It is pretty dire here - no food, little water, no news. Gunfire and bombs all around."

Mr Abell, a franchise specialist at Field Fisher Waterhouse, earlier told the BBC: "There is no escape. I have barricaded my door with the furniture. It's not the most pleasant of experiences but I suppose it is a question of the British stiff upper lip or something along those lines. It would be foolhardy to leave so I am just sitting reading and trying to ignore what is going on."

He said he had spoken to his wife and children after the attack started. "I had dinner with a colleague and came back at 9pm. I went straight to my room. As I entered there was a massive blast and the whole room shook. A couple of minutes later another large blast occurred followed by gunfire."

His only communication with the outside world was via his phone and BlackBerry, he added.

Alex Chamberlen, who works for a sports website and was in Mumbai on business, said he escaped the Oberoi after seeing gunmen bursting into the hotel's restaurant. He escaped via a fire exit. He made it to the lobby but feared a friend with whom he had been drinking remained trapped, possibly on the roof.

Mr Chamberlen said the gunmen had ordered everyone upstairs. "They told everybody to stop and put their hands up and asked if there were any British or Americans. My friend said to me: 'Don't be a hero, don't say you are British'."

Alan Jones, a businessman staying at the Trident Hotel, adjoining the Oberoi, was taking a lift to the lobby when the gunmen opened fire. "We heard bangs as the door opened. A Japanese man was shot and wounded. I frantically pressed the 'close door' button but had to move the man's foot." They went to a room in the basement and an hour later they were escorted outside.

Another Briton, Liam Butler, was close to the Taj Mahal hotel when it was attacked. "We just thought there were some fireworks, we looked up expecting to see some fireworks, but we then sort of brushed it off," he said.

Conservative MEP Sajjad Karim, who is in India with a group of other Euro MPs, was in the Taj Mahal hotel and had to flee from machine-gun fire.

"I was in the lobby when gunmen came in. There were about 25 or 30 of us. A gunman just stood there spraying bullets around, right next to me. I ran into the kitchen and we were shunted into a restaurant in the basement. We are now in the dark in this room and we've barricaded all the doors. It's really bad."

The Bombay Hospital said it was treating a Briton, William Pike, whose condition is described as serious, for gunshot wounds. A second Briton -known only at this stage as Mr Simon - was in a stable condition with gunshot wounds. A third Briton, businessman Hanish Patel, was admitted to the Sir JJ Hospital with chest injuries and transferred to a private hospital.