How can they still not know how many guests are unaccounted for?

[SoCalDem]

Everyone registered as a guest had to show ID, and provide phone contact..India is the heart of telecommunication. The first thing they should have done was to pull up the guest lists of the hotels, and then set up lines for those people to check in via cell phone. They would have easily been able to identify those who were safely out of the hotel, and by a process of elimination, know which guests were missing, and which rooms were assigned to them.

Even the dining facilities that took reservations would have had information on who was there..the employees on duty would have been easy to ascertain as well..

[gristy]

1. I suspect many people won't call to "check in" via cell phone or any type of phone for that matter

Anyone who doesn't call is either still in the hotel or isn't in the hotel. It will take the police or the gov't to actively seek out and try to locate each person on the guest list. Not impossible, but not easy either.

[HeresyLives]

2. Shooting is still going on.

People are still scattered, hidden or wounded.