Sydney - Australian filmmaker David Gross fled terrorists on the rampage in Mumbai's Taj Mahal by ripping curtains into strips and fashioning a rope that dozens used to make their escape.

He told national broadcaster ABC on Thursday that up to 100 terrified guests had used furniture to barricade themselves inside an upstairs function room as explosions rocked the floors below.

"Each time they were louder and nearby, and you could hear gunshots down the corridor that was outside our door," he said. "There were hundreds of rounds being fired and we all suddenly just realized that they were coming this way and we weren't going to stop them."

After ripping down the curtains and making a 20-metre rope, the captives smashed a window and shimmied down to the street below.

"We started sliding out," he said. "At this stage there were embers dropping down from the burning storeys above."

More than 101 people died in the orchestrated attacks that have paralyzed India's financial hub and India's biggest city. (dpa)