Marriott Hotel in Pakistan re-opens three months after attack

by Sanjay Jha | December 28, 2008 at 09:27 pm

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Three months after it was devastated in Pakistan's worst suicide attack this year, the luxury Marriott Hotel in the Pakistani capital Islamabad reopened on Sunday with a "fortress-like" arrangements that included a massive bomb-proof wall and state-of-the-art security gadgets.

A suicide attacker rammed a truck packed with 600 kg of explosives into the gate of the hotel on September 20, killing nearly 60 people, including the Czech envoy and two US Marines.

The ceremony to mark the reopening was attended by envoys of several countries and members of the expatriate community, for whom the hotel was a favourite hangout.

The Marriott hotel in Islamabad reopened on Sunday, just three months after it was destroyed in a suicide truck bombing that killed 60 people, the worst attack in Pakistan this year.The attacker rammed a truck containing 600 kilograms of high explosives into the outer gates of the hotel on September 20.‘I have made this hotel a fortress,’ Sadruddin Hashwani, the owner of the Marriott and one of Pakistan’s richest men, said as he lit candles in front of huge pictures in the refurbished hotel of employees killed in the attack.‘My heart bleeds today while remembering these great soldiers, who did not let the bomber enter the hotel,’ he said with tears in his eyes.An army of 2,000 labourers has restored the hotel to its former lustre. A grand piano and glistening chandeliers grace the new lobby. The old one, which had a glass atrium, was shattered in the attack.The facility is also now surrounded by a massive bombproof wall which is 14 feet high and 15 feet thickHashoo chief operating officer Peter Alex says the wall is capable of absorbing the shock of even a massive explosion like the blast in September, which damaged hundreds of nearby buildings.Visitors now have to pass through a bombproof room within the wall in order to gain access to the hotel, which will feature sophisticated scanning equipment, he said.There will however be no parking at the hotel. Even vehicles ferrying VIPs to the Marriott will have to deposit guests at the front gate and drive on.