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40 dead in Pak hotel blast

September 21, 2008 00:00:00


A bomb attack has hit the Marriott Hotel in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, killing at least 40 people, reports BBC.
The BBC's Barbara Plett who is at the scene says the blast created a 20ft (6m) deep crater, and destroyed the entire front section of the hotel.
She says the building is engulfed in flames, and rescue workers are carrying out bloodied victims and bodies.
Police say the blast occurred as a car approached the hotel, and that it was a suspected suicide attack.
Our correspondent says that the centre of the blast was at the front of the building close to the area where security checks are carried out.
She says that about two-thirds of the 290-room hotel is on fire, and the wounded and dead are still being brought out, on stretchers or wrapped in sheets.
There are unconfirmed reports of people being trapped inside the building.

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