New Delhi: Forty four people were killed when gunmen went on a shooting spree in Swaminarayan temple complex in Gandhinagar in Gujarat on September 24 evening, Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani said.

The dead included 13 men, six women and four children, Advani said.

The Deputy Prime Minister said the terrorists came in an Ambassador car and entered the complex by jumping over the fence and started firing indiscriminately.

They also threw hand grenades, he said.

Advani said the number of terrorists varied from two to four but they are still holed up in the complex, which has been surrounded by security forces including CRPF and Gujarat police.

Advani said he spoke to one of the priests of the temple over phone and according to him the terrorists were in plain clothes.

He said he has briefed both President A P J Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, who is in Maldives, on the attack.

Advani said he was leaving for Gandhinagar shortly to assess the situation.

The Deputy Prime Minister told reporters shortly after talking to Chief Minister Narendra Modi that over 100 people were injured in the attack have been admitted to various hospitals.

A general alert has been sounded in Gujarat, Advani said.

It was the evening prayer time, and as devotees thronged the magnificent Swaminarain temple on the outskirts of this city, militants struck.

Within minutes, gunshots were heard amid utter confusion as between 100 and 200 unsuspecting devotees found themselves trapped in the six-storeyed temple which is located in a sprawling 23 acre complex.

Cries of children could be heard as make shift stretchers were quickly arranged carrying the blood spattered injured to hospitals. The task of volunteers carrying the stretchers was all the more difficult, as they had to run more than 100 metres to reach the nearest vehicles.

Scores were injured and they included several old people as a 70-year old woman stared emptily capturing the suffering of scores of injured in the sudden attack on the huge Swaminarain temple.

A couple of eye witnesses narrated gory accounts of how they saw a few bodies scattered in the temple premises and spent bullets lying around.

The temple itself is located in a high security area near the residences of the Chief Minister and the state Governor.

The state Secretariat is just two km away.

Panic quickly gripped the area as anxious people wanted to know the fate of the chief priest of the temple, who is revered by many important personalities. President A P J Abdul Kalam had met the head priest during his recent visit to Ahmedabad.

The sprawling lush green area made it difficult for the scores of commandos to secure the area in phases from any further threats as they slowly zeroed in on the main precincts of the temple.

A security personnel in a blood spattered shirt told reporters that had he had carried between "15 and 20 bodies" from the scene of the bloody attack.

"The militants holed up inside the temple were firing indiscriminately at people who had come to offer prayers. I carried out at least 15 to 20 bodies including those of women and children," he said before being taken away by his colleagues.

There are 97 pillars in the temple, which is revered by lakhs of NRI Gujaratis. The temple is a major tourist attraction and foreigners also pay a visit.

During weekdays, an estimated 4,000 people come to worship at the temple and the crowd swells on week ends and holidays.

With no clue about where the militants were holed up, security personnel made agitated inquires from some of the saffron clad devotees to have some idea about the temple layout.

A highway also runs close to the temple and all vehicles were being thoroughly checked to ensure that the militants did not make good their escape.

All gates were sealed as hundreds of people rushed to the temple to know about the fate of their kith and kin who were feared trapped inside.

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi said the state government has taken all necessary steps to combat the "dastardly" act of attack in the Akshardham temple on September 24 and appealed to the people to maintain peace and poise.

"Having failed in Kashmir, it was a handiwork of the same elements as part of their deep conspiracy to disturb peace in Gujarat," he said.

The Chief Minister appealed to the people to have faith in the strength of the government and co-operate with it to handle the situation.

"The strength of the government lay in the people's support," Modi said.

A company of 50 NSG commandos on September 24 for Ahmedabad to help flush out terrorists holed up in Swami Narayan temple in Gandhinagar since evening, Air Force sources said.

Another aircraft has been kept on standby to airlift another company of commandos, the sources said.

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani left for Ahmedabad.

PTI