Marriot Massacre: Death toll raises to 57

ISLAMABAD: The death toll in the suicide bombing at Marriot Hotel Islamabad raised up to 51 as the rescue workers retrieved eleven more corpses from the wreckage of the building on Sunday.

Near 236 people were also injured in the deadliest attack in the history of Islamabad that almost completely destroyed the hotel building and dozens of vehicles parked aside.

Czech Republic’s ambassador to Pakistan is also among dead whose body was recovered from the hotel today, reported ARY OneWorld.

Czech ambassador Ivo Zdarek was missing since the attack.

Zdarek, 47, who used to serve in Vietnam, was appointed ambassador to Pakistan last month and has been staying at the hotel, the embassy sources said.

Earlier, doctors at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences Islamabad said that bodies of a Czech national and a foreigner lady were brought to the hospital Sunday.

A security official said the body of the ambassador was delivered to the Czech mission.

Many foreigners were also included among injured of the blast.

British High Commission in Islamabad has confirmed that five of its nationals got hurt in the blast, out of two were still be medicated in hospitals.

Meanwhile, the rescue efforts are underway at the blast site and some 11 more dead bodies have been recovered from various rooms of the hotel.

“More dead bodies have been found from the premises this morning,” a relief worker told ARY One World correspondent. “However, many of the hotel’s portions and rooms are still inaccessible due to intense fire and its aftermaths,” he added.

According to the relief workers the temperature of the building reached to 400 centigrade and the structure has been declared dangerous.

A joint investigation team constituted by the federal government has started probe into Marriott blast Sunday morning at the location.

The police and other investigation teams were collecting evidences at the location and pieces of the truck used in the bombing have been gathered.

According to the sources, surveillance cameras installed in the premise can help the investigators but entry in the hotel premises has been banned.

Meanwhile, United States has offered help to Pakistan in the investigations of the bombing.

“A 15-member team of investigators will leave for Pakistan after receiving permission from Pakistan,” US officials said.