AT LEAST 60 KILLED IN BLAST AT PAKISTANI HOTEL - POLICE CHIEF

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Here is what happened

* Suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden truck into the main gate of Marriott Hotel around 8pm

* The explosion left a 25-foot deep and 30-foot wide crater

* Entire area turned to rubble

* Gas pipeline burst keeping the hotel building ablaze for hours

* Buildings within a 3-km radius were damaged, including Frontier House and PTV building

* Powerful explosion heard as far as 30 kilometres away


Sunday, September 21, 2008

Rescuers work in the dark as fire rages

By Atif Khan

ISLAMABAD: The deadly attack on Marriott Hotel was an acid test for security agencies and civic services to tackle such tragedies with concerted efforts. Pathetically they have flunked it straightaway.

Forensic experts told Daily Times that the blast left a 17-feet deep and 34-feet wide crater. An estimated 112 rooms of the hotel were occupied by guests, locals and foreigners. As the explosive-packed dumper rammed into the entrance gate and exploded, it killed all employees and passers-by present on the spot, according to eyewitness account.

Eyewitnesses said most guests were busy breaking fast on Aftar dinner. “I went to bed early as I had to catch a flight tomorrow morning. But then there was a big bang and fire all around,” an employee of the British High Commission told Daily Times. He said he was on second floor at the time of explosion and could manage to escape by escalators only hardly.

The forensic experts said it seemed that the dumper was carrying over 1,000 kg of explosives. They said the explosion disrupted electricity and gas pipelines, setting off a huge fire.

The blast was so powerful that it completely damaged the cars parked opposite the hotel. It has been learnt that a guard standing near Frontier House died due to impact of the explosion.

No top-level management official was found on the scene even after 15 minutes of the explosion and the rescuers were fumbling for information but no one was there to guide them.

Lack of coordination between rescue teams and security agencies was observed and the way into the hotel was clogged with uprooted trees and debris.

Pumps of fire brigade engines were not working, letting the fire leap from room to room, storey to storey.

A crane to plant rescuers on top of the building came after one hour but it took at least 30 minutes for the technicians to put it in place.

No arrangement for lighting the venue was made by any of the civic service body. The rescuers were lacking rescue equipment like safety nets, first aid kits etc.

Most survivors were roaming on roads to take help but no one was there to take care of them. Already under mental and physical trauma, if there could have been a need for soothsayers and sympathizers, it was then. But who cares?

Pakistan’s 9/11’ kills 60, injures 200; Nation mourns; Terrorists hit back hours after Zardari’s warning

This is Pakistan's War

* Explosives-laden truck rammed into Marriott Hotel
* US national among the dead, several foreigners injured
* Nearby Frontier House, Chief Justice’s House, IT Towers and PTV building damaged
* Rehman Malik says government received intelligence reports two days ago
* 14-year-old suspect arrested from the scene

ISLAMABAD: A suicide bomber detonated a truck packed with explosives at the Marriott Hotel in a brazen attack in the heart of Islamabad on Saturday, killing at least 60 people.

At least 200 people, including a PPP legislator, were injured in the massive explosion, which ruptured a gas pipeline and triggered a huge blaze.

A US national was killed and several foreigners were injured, hospital officials told AFP. Many victims leapt to their deaths from the upper floors of the hotel to escape the fire, a senior security official said. Officials were worried that the hotel, a key meeting place for foreigners, would collapse.

Nearby buildings: The explosion was heard throughout Islamabad and left a 25-foot crater. Some of the victims were in the adjacent Frontier House, Chief Justice’s House, IT Towers and the PTV building, which were severely damaged.

Sixteen US nationals were inside the hotel at the time of the attack, an official said, adding they included diplomats. The PIMS spokesman said four Germans, two Saudis and two British nationals were injured. Hotel owner Sadruddin Hashwani told Geo News most of the foreigners were rescued through the rear exit.

President Asif Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani condemned the attack.

Intelligence reports: “We had intelligence reports two days ago that some incident might take place,” Interior Adviser Rehman Malik told reporters.

Suspect: ARY One World said police arrested a 14-year-old suspect outside the hotel. fazal sher/ agencies/daily times monitor







Panic grips twin cities after blast at Marriott Hotel

Terror strikes heart of capital

By Sajjad Malik

ISLAMABAD: Panic blanketed the capital city Saturday evening after a huge suicide blast almost destroyed the Marriott Hotel giving it the look of some derelict building.

The hotel is located in the high security zone, with Pak Secretariat, Parliament House, President House, Supreme Court building, the Punjab House, Balochistan House, Frontier House, and Kashmir House standing within a radius of almost a kilometer.

The blast was heard as far as 30 kilometers. The hotel building could be seen engulfed in flames, with dozens of firefighters locked in a fierce battle with the leaping flames. The windowpanes of the nearby houses and shopping malls came crashing down. Some of the trees located near the hotel were also uprooted.

There were pools of blood all around. At some places rescuers were seen removing people buried under the rubble. Blood-soaked bodies of visitors and hotel staff were seen scattered here and there. Some of the victims were hit by silvers from the broken windowpanes while other became direct victim of the blast.

Around 100 cars parked in the parking of the hotel and outside were reduced to a total wreck.

People rushed out of their houses soon after the blast. Some of them raced to the hotel and assisted the rescue teams in carting off the injured to the nearby hospitals.

The blast also damaged the buildings of the adjacent Evacuee Trust Board, Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) and PTV. Traffic came to a halt for a while after the incident and traders put up their shutters for fear of a similar attack.

“I was in the Evacuee Trust Building when I heard the sound of a deafening blast that knocked me down. I had a blackout that last a few moments. However, soon after gathering my senses, I got up and started running until I was far away from the scene,” Ihsan told Daily Times. Akhtar, an employee of PTV, said that he and some of his friends were standing in the lawn of the PTV building discussing some issue when the blast took place.

“It was a huge blast that made me go weak at the knees. However, I gathered myself and the next moment I was running to a safer place,” he said.

Ahmad, a common citizen, who visited the blast scene soon after it took place, said that he had not seen destruction of such a vast magnitude in his life.





Eyewitness account

ISLAMABAD: We had just begun our Iftar when the bomb went off. Around 300 people had just begun their dinner. Along with dozens of panic-stricken Pakistanis and foreigners, we waded through the devastated building. We could only imagine the damage’s extent on finally finding our way out through the back of the hotel – the front walls of the hotel, dozens of concrete blocks, and about two dozen cars, including mine, were destroyed and charred beyond recognition. imtiaz gul

20 Sep 2008 15:16:46 GMT
Source: Reuters
AT LEAST 40 KILLED IN BLAST AT PAKISTANI HOTEL - POLICE CHIEF

ISLAMABAD, Sept 20 (Reuters) - At least 40 people were killed on Saturday in a suspected suicide car-bomb attack on the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad and the death toll was expected to rise, a senior police officer said.

"A car laden with explosives rammed the gate at the Marriott and so far we have brought out 40 dead bodies, but the number could well be higher," police chief Asghar Raza Gardazi said. (Reporting by Kamran Haider; Editing by Simon Cameron-
Moore)


Those killed include five women. 257 wounded, some of them critically were shifted to the local hospitals after the deadly explosion. The death toll is feared to rise further.

The powerful explosion caused fire in many parts of the hotel besides shattering the windowpanes of the buildings around the hotel.

According to details, a small vehicle broke through the security barrier outside the hotel before an explosives laden dumper truck was struck with the hotel causing a huge explosion.

This caused the gas pipelines to burst triggering fire which engulfed the entire building of the luxury hotel.

The explosion left a 20 feet wide and 25 feet deep crater on the ground.

According to police, 1000 kilograms of explosive material was used in the deadly explosion.

This hotel in Islamabad is a favorite place for foreigners to stay and gather, and it has previously been targeted by militants.

Ambulances rushed to the scene, where a fire also burned, smoke hovered and the carcasses of vehicles were scattered.

According to senior correspondent of Geo News, Hamid Mir, about 100 people are feared dead in the attack.

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By Zeeshan Haider

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Video footage was released on Sunday showing the last moments before a truck laden with 600 kg of explosives blew up outside Islamabad's Marriott Hotel, killing at least 53 people and wounding more than 260.

"The truck was stopped at the barrier and there was an altercation between the attacker and the guards," said Rehman Malik, the top official in the Interior Ministry, which released the images, told a news conference.

"A doctor was on an emergency call and was standing behind the truck. He asked the guards to remove the truck so that he could drive in to attend a patient," Malik continued.

Sniffer dogs then detected something wrong and guards shouted to people to run.

The footage showed the truck driver tried to ram the retractable metal barrier and bar at the security checkpoint at the entrance to the hotel's forecourt and parking area.

Some accounts given earlier had suggested that there had been an exchange of fire between the truck driver and the security guards on duty, but that wasn't clearly evident from the closed circuit television images.

Most of the guards retreated when the truck tried to ram the barrier.

What happened next appeared to have been a small explosion in the cabin.

Flames were seen spreading from the front to the rear, of the hydraulic dumper truck as cars passed by on the road behind.

After the explosion some guards moved in before retreating once again, and finally one came back with a fire extinguisher, but failed to make an impression on the blaze.

Then the screen turned blue, presumably as the final explosion let rip, killing immediate bystanders. Other victims were felled by flying glass and from the subsequent fire that swept through the building.

Malik said he expected the investigation to point to the tribal areas used as bases by Taliban and al Qaeda fighters on the border with Afghanistan.

"Preliminary investigations revealed that 600 kg explosives were used," Malik said. "High explosives RDX and TNT were used."

"Unlike previous attacks, aluminium powder was also used... When the fire balls hit the building, the aluminium powder fueled the fire," he said, explaining the ferocity of the blaze.

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