New Delhi - Elite commandos prepared to storm the Trident hotel in India's financial hub of Mumbai Thursday as police said several guests were still on the premises.

The Trident along with the iconic Taj hotel were among the targets of heavily armed gunmen who carried out coordinated attacks on at least 10 sites in Mumbai beginning late Wednesday, killing 101 people and injuring 287, an official at Mumbai's police control room said.

The official said six foreigners were among the dead but they had not yet been identified.

The gunmen, in groups of four to five, fired automatic weapons and lobbed grenades in the two five-star hotels, at the city's busiest railway station, in a cafe, a cinema hall and a hospital, among other targets.

Mumbai Police Commissioner Hasan Ghafoor said the attacks were suspected to be coordinated terrorist assaults. He said the gunmen appeared to be using automatic weapons like AK-47s, AK-56s and semiautomatic rifles.

A little-known organization called the Deccan Mujahideen claimed responsibility for the attacks in e-mails sent to local news agencies.

Police said the identity of the attackers had not yet been established.

Local media reports said some Japanese and Australian nationals could be among the victims.

Fourteen police officers, including the chief of Maharashtra state's anti-terrorism squad and three other senior officers, were killed in encounters with the gunmen.

The police were now focusing on securing the release of people stranded at the two hotels and a residential building called Nariman House.

Five Israeli citizens were believed to be among the hostages taken by the gunmen at the Trident, NDTV said. An Israeli family of four was also being held captive by another group of gunmen at Nariman House.

Elite commandos of the National Security Guard, who are trained in counterterrorism combat, had encircled the Trident and were preparing to storm the building along with special police forces and the army, NDTV reported, quoting police sources.

Firefighters could be seen waiting outside the hotel, and media units had been asked to move back to a safer distance.

At the Taj hotel, an estimated 200 guests had been evacuated since early Thursday.

It was not clear how many terrorists were holed up in the two hotels and Nariman House or how many people were trapped inside and whether they were hiding or were being held hostage, police said.

Local media reports said there could be 40 to 50 people being held hostage.

Parts of the Taj that had been cleared were being secured room by room, a senior defence official said on the NDTV television channel.

He said bodies of victims were found in both hotels.

The army and the navy's marine commandos and the Maharashtra police's anti-terrorism squad were all involved in the operations.

The lead in securing the hotels and buildings was now being take by the National Security Guard commandos, police said.

Peripheral and outer security was being provided by a task force made up of members of army and police units.

At least five suspected terrorists had been killed and nine arrested while two had escaped, police said.

Sounds of a grenade explosion were heard at the Trident and sporadic firing was heard at both hotels.

Authorities said the country's bourses, both located in Mumbai, as well as schools and colleges would be closed Thursday. (dpa)