New York rabbi, wife killed in Mumbai attacks

Mumbai/Melbourne, Nov.29 : New York Rabbi Gavriel Noach Holtzberg and his wife, Rivkah Holtzberg, the directors of Chabad-Lubavitch of Mumbai, have been confirmed killed by terrorists in Mumbai.

The Holtzbergs were among more than 150 killed in a series of terrorist attacks in India, an ultra-orthodox Jewish group confirmed to Fox News on Friday.

"This news is fresh and the mood is raw," said Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky, the chairman of education and social services for the movement.

The couple's toddler son, Moshe Holtzberg, was rescued Thursday by an employee and is now with his grandparents. He turns two today. The couple has a second child who was not there at the time of the attack.

Meanwhile, Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith has said that it could be days before the official Australian death toll in the Mumbai terrorist attacks is known.

So far, he said, only one Australian death has been confirmed. But there are grave fears that a second Australian may have also died, he added.

"I can't discount that there may not be ... further Australians amongst the victims. We just have to wait patiently while the Indian authorities go through the painstaking process of clearing the hotel and identifying victims," Smith told ABC Radio.

"Unfortunately, I can't put a timetable on that. I think we have to say days rather than hours. It's a terrible painstaking process. I think also we are better off proceeding with caution," Smith said, adding the government is doing everything it could to help Australians affected by the terrorist assault.

Indian media reports say up to 155 people were killed and 327 wounded in the attacks across Mumbai by suspected Pakistan-based Islamic militants.

ANI