( CNN ) -- Witnesses caught up in the terrorist attack on Mumbai have spoken of how they ran for their lives , smashed windows to escape and sheltered in hotel rooms as the horror that has claimed more than 100 lives unfolded . An Indian police officer directs people leaving the Taj Mahal after gunmen attacked the hotel overnight Wednesday . One of the targets for the gunmen was the Taj Hotel , one of Mumbai 's most famous landmarks . Anthony Rose , an Australian visiting Mumbai to produce a travel show , told CNN Thursday that he checked into the Taj hotel just a minute before attackers stormed into the lobby Wednesday night . `` They came in with all guns blazing , '' Rose said . `` It was just chaos . '' Watch Rose 's comments on terror attacks » . Rose and others found refuge in a hotel ballroom , where they waited for six hours hoping to be rescued . Although they could hear explosions and gunfire nearby , there were no sirens or police evident , he said . Watch how terror attacks have shaken India . » . Help never arrived and the group were forced to smash a thick glass window and climbed down to the street on curtains . `` As soon as the hotel was on fire , we knew we had to go , '' Rose said . Meanwhile Manuela Testolini , founder of the In A Perfect World children 's foundation and ex-wife of music icon Prince , described how she saw someone shot in front of her at the Taj before sheltering with 250 other terrified people in the darkened ballroom . Watch Testolini describe her escape » . Testolini was eating dinner at a restaurant across the street from the Taj when she saw the gunmen approach . `` We heard some gunshots , '' she said . `` My colleague saw someone get shot just outside of the glass doors of the restaurant . Obviously , that prompted us to jump up and run . '' Testolini left all her possessions and scurried through the kitchen of the restaurant to the sound of gunshots behind her , before heading with colleagues and restaurant staff to a darkened ballroom in the Taj . There they waited for two hours , listening to constant bullet barrages and grenade attacks outside . Another witness , Yasmin Wong , a CNN employee , was also staying in the Taj Hotel . She said she hid under her bed for several hours after she was awoken by gunfire . Watch Wong 's comments on attack » . She then received a phone call from the hotel , telling her to turn her lights off , put a wet towel by the door and stay in her room until told otherwise . So Wong sat in the dark , watching smoke rise outside her hotel window . `` I saw a guy outside the window above me who had smashed the window and was hanging out , '' Wong said . `` At that point , authorities told us to run out of the hotel . '' Wong said she passed dead bodies in the hotel 's halls as she searched for an exit , finally leaving through the pool entrance . Wong said : `` I thought it was going to end but it seemed to never end . '' Meanwhile Mark Abell spoke to CNN from a hotel room near the Taj . Watch Abell describe attack on Taj » . `` I came back from dinner last night at nine with a colleague , came into the lobby , '' Abell said . `` The security fences were n't operating ; the hotel shook with an immense blast . Three or four minutes later , there was another large blast , the whole building shaking . `` I looked outside to see a crowd running . It was chaos , gunshots ; it looked all very , very nasty . '' The Oberoi Hotel , which also has a reputation as one of Mumbai 's most famous hotels , was also targeted by the gunmen . Gautam Patel was staying in the Trident Hotel , which is adjacent to the Oberoi , when the attacks began . Watch Patel describe the evacuation » . `` I was up on the 11th floor and while I was on a conference call , I heard two large noises , and they sounded like thuds from within the room , and that 's when we realized that there was something serious happening . `` When I heard the two thuds , that 's when I looked out window and onto my left I could see the Oberoi Hotel -- there was a restaurant in the Oberoi Hotel -- which was under flames , '' Patel said . `` We left our room , walked down the fire exit , the hotel staff met us down at the bottom of hotel and put us into large banquet hall where we saw about 150 to 200 people . The lights were out , so we were just told to huddle there until we heard further . '' `` We stayed there for about one hour , that 's when we heard another large two bangs . We could n't tell if they were from outside or within the hotel , then we heard some gunfire . Twenty , 30 minutes past that , one of the senior advisers of the hotel mentioned we would be escorted to the back of the hotel , put into groups of 10 people and told to run to the neighboring cinema hall , where we would be safe . `` I think most of the activity was happening in the lobby , '' Patel said . `` People were talking , rumoring about the fact that terrorists were in the hotel , so there was a search by room-to-room , so I think the activity was happening in the hotel and the front of the hotel . '' New York-based filmmaker Smriti Mundhra and her parents were staying in an apartment near the Oberoi . Watch Mundhra talk about the scene outside her door » . `` We 're all safe in our apartment right now , following instructions by the police to stay at home with the doors locked and away from windows , '' Mundhra told CNN . `` Just as we were getting ready for bed last night , I heard a little bit of commotion on the street and some police sirens and did n't really think much of it . Then my parents came in and told me something was going on in the neighborhood . So we watched the news and realized essentially there 's a terrorist attack happening just outside our door . '' `` We 've been indoors since we 've been hearing things from out of the window -- bombs and police sirens and all kinds of chaos , '' Mundhra continued . `` I 've been watching in on TV and it 's very hard to connect the two , that all of that is happening right outside our doors . `` We have n't really been in touch with our neighbors , we 've just been locked down in to our apartment . `` We were told to stay indoors , not leave our houses , stay away from windows . I know that the people who are in buildings surrounding the Oberoi have been advised to keep lights off and windows and blinds closed and we 've done all of that , and just keeping an eye on our family . ''
Witnesses speak of their horror at being caught in Mumbai terror attacks . Hotel guests describe how they saw people shot in front of them , fled for their lives . Witness at Taj : `` They came in with all guns blazing . It was just chaos '' Diner : `` My colleague saw someone get shot just outside of the glass doors ''