MUMBAI, India (AP):

Teams of heavily armed gunmen stormed luxury hotels, a popular restaurant and a crowded train station in coordinated attacks across India's financial capital yesterday, killing at least 87 people and taking Westerners hostage, police said.

An explosion, followed by a raging fire, struck one of the hotels, the landmark Taj Mahal, early this morning (India time). Screams could be heard and enormous clouds of black smoke rose from the century-old edifice on Mumbai's waterfront. Firefighters were spraying water at the blaze.

The attackers specifically targeted Britons and Americans, witnesses said. Fires burned and gunfire was heard for hours. Officials said at least 150 people were wounded.

The motive for the onslaught was not immediately clear, but Mumbai has frequently been targeted in terrorist attacks blamed on Islamic extremists, including a series of bombings in July 2007 that killed 187 people.