Twitter was inundated with "tweets"--short bursts of information posted by users --Wednesday as mainstream media outlets struggled to catch up with the scope of the attacks on India's financial capital.

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Even in ordinary times, Indians have become infatuated with messaging. So it was no surprise that cellphones became the lifelines for those trapped in the two hotels. A businessman hiding in his room on the 28th floor of the Oberoi Hotel recounted that, by Thursday morning, the TV had gone off and the landline phones were dead. The messages he received from his family on his cellphone kept him going. Several people who perished sent their last appeals for help via SMS. The cellphones used by the terrorists, gunned down by commandos, helped establish that they were from Pakistan.