The Guy Carpenter reinsurance brokerage, citing published reports, said the terrorists' attacks on Mumbai could represent an insured loss of up to $600 million for property claims.
In a "RISK-i" report on its Cat Central site, the firm noted that sites in the city that were hit included two luxury establishments–the Taj Mahal Hotel and Oberoi Hotel–along with the popular Leopold Caf?, Chhattrapati Shivaji (a major railway station), Cama hospital and the Nariman House Jewish Center, which were badly damaged by explosions, fire and gun battles.
Guy Carpenter said the 565-room Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel, damaged by sporadic fires, is owned by the Tata Group, which has vowed to rebuild the damaged areas of the building.
"We will rebuild every inch that has been damaged in this attack, and bring back the Taj to its full glory," promised RK Krishna Kumar, vice chairman of Indian Hotels, on the Tata Web site.
The Leopold Caf? reopened on Sunday.
In London, Gordon Woo, chief architect of the Risk Management Solutions terrorism model, said cities that have "iconic importance" because they are of political or economic importance are top targets, rather than "villages in the middle of nowhere," because terrorists see them as a way to put pressure on governments.
"Mumbai was always was a high-profile target. Unfortunately it has a history of terrorist attacks…This is not a surprise," he said.
The multiplicity of the attacks on 10 Mumbai locations, he said, was similar to the March 2004 Madrid train station bombings, where several hundred died from small package bombs that were placed in multiple locations.
While the damage in Mumbai, where the attackers cut loose with assault rifles and grenades, was substantial, he noted, it could have been far worse if the attack had involved planting trucks with high explosives.
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