I was at my home, sitting on the sofa in my room. My mom, dad and younger brother were in the other room relaxing after AFTAR. It was just like anyother evening, yet it was different. We were about to realise it soon.
All of a sudden, there was a tremor and our doors shook and rattled. My brother said it is a blast, and we all said no, it must be the wind blowing outside or maybe an earthquake. After 8, oct, 05, every little tremor felt like an earthquake. We were speculating about the cause of the sound and tremor when came the BREAKING NEWS.
A huge blast has hit marriot hotel, in the heart of Pakistani capital, Islamabad.
It was terrible. Suddenly, we started calling our relatives who lived in close proximity to the site of the blast, inquiring about their safety. Every one once again realised that security is indeed a superstition. My dad had been on the very road on the same evening on his way back home from office. The place was a mess now.
We were watching the news updates and wondering how many more innocents will die?
How many more unfortunate families will be left mourning?
With tears in our eyes, we were helplessly watching our fellow citizens die.
Adding to the misery, the building of marriot caught fire. The fire was so intense and it spread so quickly that it took about 14 hours with the unequipped fire brigades owned by us to calm it down.
After the flames what we saw was another shock.
There stood Marriot, a burnt, destroyed, blackened structure, with no resemblance to the marriot we knew.
I suddenly remembered my most cherished memory related to marriot. It was a couple of years back when i along with some other students had the honour to attend the first meeting of noble laureates with Pakistani young scholars.
It was a great moment at a great place. An amazing learning experience.
The details of how the blast occured are now known to everyone. A truck (dumper) disguised as a carrier of construction material entered Islamabad, and then the red zone. It hit the marriot's entrance and than the driver blasted himself...
The truck caught fire, and the explosives it was carrying blew apart with a huge explosion after a few minutes.
Here, some people need special mention.
The security guards on duty there.....
They knew the danger all too well. Still, they tried to stop the truck's fire in order to save many lives using just a small extinguisher. It was real show of bravery by the true martyrs.
Hats off to them.
Its the existance of people like these who make us a nation hopeful to see something better in future in situations when everything is going wrong.
I just don't know what was the crime of these people who got killed??
Drivers, security persons, waiters, cheffs, passers by- these all were common people.
If it was in retaliation to whats happening in the tribal areas, i see no way how it can be justified. Acts of terrorism can never be justified, killing of innocent people can never be for some good purpose.
All of a sudden, there was a tremor and our doors shook and rattled. My brother said it is a blast, and we all said no, it must be the wind blowing outside or maybe an earthquake. After 8, oct, 05, every little tremor felt like an earthquake. We were speculating about the cause of the sound and tremor when came the BREAKING NEWS.
A huge blast has hit marriot hotel, in the heart of Pakistani capital, Islamabad.
It was terrible. Suddenly, we started calling our relatives who lived in close proximity to the site of the blast, inquiring about their safety. Every one once again realised that security is indeed a superstition. My dad had been on the very road on the same evening on his way back home from office. The place was a mess now.
We were watching the news updates and wondering how many more innocents will die?
How many more unfortunate families will be left mourning?
With tears in our eyes, we were helplessly watching our fellow citizens die.
Adding to the misery, the building of marriot caught fire. The fire was so intense and it spread so quickly that it took about 14 hours with the unequipped fire brigades owned by us to calm it down.
After the flames what we saw was another shock.
There stood Marriot, a burnt, destroyed, blackened structure, with no resemblance to the marriot we knew.
I suddenly remembered my most cherished memory related to marriot. It was a couple of years back when i along with some other students had the honour to attend the first meeting of noble laureates with Pakistani young scholars.
It was a great moment at a great place. An amazing learning experience.
The details of how the blast occured are now known to everyone. A truck (dumper) disguised as a carrier of construction material entered Islamabad, and then the red zone. It hit the marriot's entrance and than the driver blasted himself...
The truck caught fire, and the explosives it was carrying blew apart with a huge explosion after a few minutes.
Here, some people need special mention.
The security guards on duty there.....
They knew the danger all too well. Still, they tried to stop the truck's fire in order to save many lives using just a small extinguisher. It was real show of bravery by the true martyrs.
Hats off to them.
Its the existance of people like these who make us a nation hopeful to see something better in future in situations when everything is going wrong.
I just don't know what was the crime of these people who got killed??
Drivers, security persons, waiters, cheffs, passers by- these all were common people.
If it was in retaliation to whats happening in the tribal areas, i see no way how it can be justified. Acts of terrorism can never be justified, killing of innocent people can never be for some good purpose.
