Devastated Mumbai Jewish centre and Taj hotel to be rebuilt

Mumbai: The new head of a devastated Jewish centre in Mumbai vowed yesterday to restore the facility that was devastated when gunmen rampaged through the city 10 days ago. The owners of the iconic Taj Mahal hotel, meanwhile, pledged to reopen with an interfaith ceremony.

Chabad house, the Jewish centre, was one of several places captured by gunmen in the November 26 to 29 attacks.

A commando assault ended the two-day siege of the centre, but six people inside the building - all Jewish foreigners - were killed.

"We are staying at the same centre and will rebuild it even nicer than it was," said Rabbi Dov Goldberg, an Israeli who was sent by the ultra-Orthodox Chabad-Lubavitch movement, which ran the house.

Among those killed in the attack was American-Israeli Rabbi Gavriel Noach Holtzberg and his wife, Rivka.

Meanwhile, the owners of the Taj Mahal, a scene of much of the bloodshed, said they would hold an interfaith prayer ceremony to rededicate the building.

"The spiritual rebirth and rededication of the hotel is an important step in our recovery process," Raymond Bickson, the managing director of Taj Hotels, said in the statement.