Militants destroy hotel at Pakistan capital's heart

By Zeeshan Haider

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Mansoor Abbasi was serving guests when a suicide bomber struck the entrance of Islamabad's Marriott Hotel, bringing down the ceiling of the banquet hall.

There were up to 300 guests in the hall at the rear of the hotel enjoying iftar, the meal taken at dusk to break the daytime fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

"Everybody started screaming," said Abbasi, in between calling out for any survivors left lying under the rubble of the lobby, as fire spread through the floors.

"I pulled out 16 wounded people but didn't see any dead," said the young waiter, his white jacket stained with blood.

Walking past reception, Rehan Ahmed, an executive in his 30s, saw a woman employee killed by flying glass as she stood by the scanners used to check people coming in.

"It was like hell," said Ahmed, his suit jacket torn. "It was like scenes from a movie."

In the most devastating attack yet by Islamist militants in the Pakistani capital, the bomber who detonated a truckload of explosives killed at least 40 people and wounded more than 200.

Most of the fatalities occurred outside the hotel, though there were concerns for anyone trapped inside as an inferno spread. Many of the 250 wounded were in a critical condition.

"I don't know how I got out of there. It was panic all around," said journalist Imtiaz Gul, his eyebrows covered with dust after fleeing the iftar reception.

Marriott owner Sadruddin Hashwani spoke to journalists as he watched his hotel burn.

"The Marriott is the house of Islamabad," said Hashwani, whose hotel catered for the Pakistani elite, foreign diplomats, business people and journalists who pass through the capital.

"Whosoever has done this meant to damage Pakistan. He did not know that many innocent people earn bread and butter for their children," said the hotelier, adding his concern was for the loss of life not property.

THIRD ATTACK

Hashwani prayed that the guests had been evacuated before the blaze turned into an inferno, and said thankfully occupancy was low, as it usually is during Ramadan.

Among the dead were the entire security detail manning the barricade at the entrance. Hashwani said one guard exchanged fire with the driver before the truck bomb was detonated.