Suicide blast in Marriot Hotel Islamabad; 60 dead, CIA and other foreigners targeted.

Islamabad, Sept 20: About 1,000 kg of explosives were reported to have been used in a suicide attack on the Marriot Hotel in Islamabad on Saturday. Several floors of the hotel were set on fire, and the lobby, the reception area and the gates severely damaged when a man rammed an explosive laden truck into the hotel’s gates. Sixty people were left dead, and more than 100 injured in the blast which occurred only a kilometre away from the Prime Minister House where the country’s ruling elite, including the President and the three service chiefs, were attending an Iftar dinner. A Danish diplomat and three US citizens are among the dead. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast.

Many foreigners stay in the hotel while visiting Pakistan and it is heavily guarded. There are reports of some foreign nationals also being killed. CIA officials who are presently visiting the country are also staying in the hotel. Well placed sources in the hotel say they might have been target of the attackers.
The Marriott Hotel is a 290-room hotel, popular with the foreigners. Of these, 258 rooms have been completely gutted by the fire. Hundreds of people are trapped inside the building which could collapse anytime.

Police sources said that the dead include three Koreans, two Saudis and one American. Among the injured are some foreigners, including some Americans who were shifted to the hospital inside the US Embassy. Unconfirmed reports also said that a senior US security official was among the injured.

The blast also caused the main gas pipeline outside the hotel to explode, adding to the mayhem. Sources said that at least 300 people were dining in the hotel when the blast took place. Being the fasting month of Ramadan people dine immediately after the sunset, which was at 7.12 p.m. Saturday and the blast took place at 7.56 p.m.

Security officials feared that the intended destination of the explosives-laden van was the PM House and that it perhaps could not reach there because of the high security that was in place in the capital since morning.

A suicide bomber had killed a security guard and himself in an attack outside the Marriott Hotel in January 2007. The hotel is located in the vicinity of the Indian High Commission. Earlier in 2006 the group’s Karachi hotel was made the target.

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