In the wake of the ongoing massive terrorist assault on Mumbai, India, delegations of Israeli first-responders are arriving in the country Thursday night to offer their assistance to Indian teams. The Chabad-Lubavitch organization also pulled together in support of hostages held by the jihadists in Mumbai's Chabad House.
The multi-pronged terrorist attack took the lives of at least 125 people and caused massive damage to two major high-end hotels in India's commercial capital. Initial reports said that 15 Israelis were being held hostage, although by Thursday night there was unconfirmed information that seven or eight of them had escaped or been rescued from their captors in the Chabad House, also known as Nariman House.
Israel's national first response service, Magen David Adom (Red Star of David; MDA), and the all-volunteer first-response, search-and-rescue organization ZAKA have dispatched teams to India to assist local authorities. The MDA medical teams will help treat those wounded in the attack, which may include up to 400 people, as well as assisting people who have been displaced as a result of the mass destruction. ZAKA and MDA teams will be helping with the casualties, as well as assist in locating missing persons in the rubble and chaos of post-attack Mumbai. An additional team of MDA professionals are on standby in Israel, while ZAKA officials say they have sent medical equipment necessary for emergency air evacuation.
Accompanying the ZAKA team to India were the parents of Rivki Holtzberg, the wife of the Chabad rabbi in Mumbai, Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg. She and her husband were among those held hostage by the Islamists who took over the Chabad House. While the Chabad representatives in India were being held by Muslim terrorists, Chabadniks in Israel did everything possible for their release.
Speaking with Indian officials in separate conversations, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni offered whatever assistance India may need in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks.