SA sends condolences to India
28 November 2008
South Africa has extended its condolences to the government and people of India following a series of co-ordinated terrorist attacks on two five-star hotels, a landmark restaurant, a hospital and a train station in India's commercial capital, Mumbai.
The attacks, which started on Wednesday, have left more than 100 people dead and over 250 injured.
Skirmishes were still being reported on Friday as Indian army commandos sought to end standoffs with gunmen and free remaining hostages at the luxury Taj Mahal Palace and Trident/Oberoi hotels and a Jewish centre known as Nariman House.
"We meet under a dark cloud of sadness given the terror attacks in Mumbai, India," African National Congress (ANC) president Jacob Zuma told a conference of religious leaders in Johannesburg on Thursday.
"India and South Africa have a historical bond of friendship and solidarity," Zuma said. "What happens in India also affects many South Africans who have relatives and friends in that country."
Foreign Affairs spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa said the South African government "extends its condolences to the government and people of India".
Mamoepa said that no South African casualties had so far been reported to the South African Consulate-General in Mumbai.
He encouraged South Africans in Mumbai to report their presence and well-being to the Consulate-General, adding that South African families with relatives in Mumbai could contact the consular section of the Department of Foreign Affairs at 012-351-1000.
News24 reports that five of 12 South African Airways crew members who were stranded in the Oberoi hotel had been flown back to South Africa on Friday, while the remaining seven were about to be evacuated from the hotel.
Mamoepa told News24 that Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma had spoken to the trapped crew members on Thursday night to "convey the thoughts and prayers" of President Kgalema Motlanthe, the government and people of South Africa.
In the other five-star hotel that came under attack, the Taj Mahal Palace, News24 reports that a private South African security guard and his team, in India to provide security for the inaugural Champions League cricket tournament, had successfully evacuated about 120 guests.
The tournament, to have started in India on 3 December, has been postponed. Eight Twenty20 domestic teams from Australia, South Africa, India, England and Pakistan were to have taken part in the competition.
South African cricket franchises the Dolphins and the Titans had been booked to arrive in India on the weekend.
SAinfo reporter
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