Marriott Islamabad Before and after 20-009-2008

The Marriot Hotel in Islamabad, Pakistan was bombed. At least 59 people are dead and twenty-five critically injured. The explosion, believed to be a truck bomb, occurred at 8 p.m. just hours after newly elected President Asif Ali Zardari addressed Parliament and promised to destroy terrorism in the country. It is thought that more than a ton (approx. 700kg of RDX and TNT) of explosives were used in the blast, which left a crater 30 feet deep and triggered a gas leak which sent the hotel up in flames. It is feared that the death toll may go much higher in what is one of the worst terror attacks in Pakistans history. The Marriott is a popular place for foreigners to stay and the most prominent US-owned enterprise in the city, despite a wave of violence in the area. In January 2007, a security guard was killed and several people injured after the guard blocked a bomber from getting at the hotel, forcing him to detonate his explosives where he was. Dozens of vehicles have been destroyed, and trees nearby have been felled. Buildings hundreds of meters away have had their windows shattered. Witnesses, including a security guard, described a large truck approaching the building immediately before the explosion. The explosion was heard 30km (18 miles) away in Rawalpindi.

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YouTube | September 21, 2008

Tags:. .left. .hotel. .dead. .buildings. .attacks