Two terrorists carrying guns tonight took 15 people, half of them foreigners, hostage on the roof of the luxury Taj Hotel here, one of the hostages who managed to escape said.

Two youths in their 20s came to the restaurant of the hotel and took 15 people to the roof of the hotel, Rakesh Patel, a businessman from London who lives in Hong Kong, told NDTV giving the first eyewitness account of what happened in the five-star hotel in South Mumbai.

"The two young boys came to the restaurant and took us upstairs. We were taken to the 18th floor from where we escaped", he said.

Replying to a question, Patel said the terrorists wanted to know if any one of the hostages was carrying American and British passports.