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Bloggers and Twitter help Mumbai attack victims

Bloggers and Twitter help Mumbai attack victims

By:  John Ribeiro  On: 27 Nov 2008 For: IDG News Service (Bangalore Bureau)(NA) Creator

As calls clog Mumbai's fixed and mobile lines, SMS offers a convenient communication alternative and bloggers set up an online site where people can check for information about held or wounded relatives

- Bloggers pitched in offering information and other help to people worldwide as Indian police and commandos battled it out Thursday with armed terrorists in two top hotels and a residential complex in south Mumbai.

On "Mumbai Help", http://mumbaihelp.blogspot.com/2008/11/can-we-help.html bloggers offered to help users get through to their family and friends in the city, or to get information on them.

Mobile and fixed line circuits to Mumbai were clogged by the large number of people trying to get in touch with people in Mumbai after the crisis. A significant number of the people trapped in the hotels are foreigners, according to media reports.

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More people are likely to use mobile phones and technologies like SMS (Short Message Service) to get in touch with relatives than go online, because the number of mobile users outstrips that of online users in Mumbai. But when the phone lines are clogged, some people are realizing that going online may be a good alternative.

People posting on the Mumbai Help blog included a sister trying to get in touch with her brother on a mobile number. A volunteer tried the number, and promptly reported on the blog that the number was busy but she would continue to try.

"We do what we can," said Dina Mehta, an ethnographer by profession, who is blogging on Mumbai Help. "We are certainly providing people emotional support at this difficult time," she added.

Mumbai Help's teams were on Thursday checking out if hospitals have put out the list of the injured and dead, to pass on the information to bloggers and callers. "Till now the lists of dead or injured are not yet put up, which is surprising," Mehta said Thursday afternoon.

Micro-blogging site Twitter is also being used to pass on information, or to just express feelings about the terrorist attack, and sometimes about the inadequate coverage of the crises by some Indian TV channels.

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The Taj Mahal Hotel, one of the locations attacked by the terrorists, has used SMS to get its help line and other important numbers to anxious relatives who had people living or visiting the hotel at the time of the attack.


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John Ribeiro John Ribeiro is a contributor to the International Data Group (IDG) News Service, which publishes global technology stories from bureaus around the world to more than 300 publications in more than 60 countries.

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Comments (1)

What a delima ?
by akshay 1/20/2009 12:00:00 AMI think India government (especially, Sonia govt.) does not have the political or international acumen to deal with this scenario. India is a soft nation and so can be easily pushed around. Look at the terror attacks one after the another. The latest example is Mumabi. The younger generation of our country is either crazy for the film stars and the popular movie personalities, spend their time playing
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