Marriott Bombing - Story

It was around 8.00 PM Pakistani time. I was having dinner/iftar with fellow Malaysians at the Malaysian Embassy. The mood is great. In fact, we are all dressed in Baju Kurung and Baju Melayu. There would be a Hari Raya recording session after Isyak at the Embassy. Ironic isn't it?

As we were having our dinner, 'Boom!'. A loud explosion sound silenced the crowd. In fact, we felt the tremor and the wind blows towards us. The Embassy is just around 2 KM from Marriott.

People at the embassy shocked! Moms and Dads searching for their childrens. Bosses started dialing thier phones. We first thought it was a Supermarket that blown up. The market is favourite spot for foreigners/expatriate do their shopping. Bear in mind that foreigners/expatriate that I am talking about is also Malaysians.

Soon after that, the real story popped out. My friend managed to used his phone and surf Yahoo News. 'BREAKING NEWS : MARRIOTT ISLAMABAD BLAST'.

At that time, I'm speechless. I was there 2 weeks earlier. 3 nights stay. Imagine what would happened if the blast was 2 weeks earlier. In fact, I was planning to stay there for my 3 months attachment. Alhamdulillah, my boss invited me to stay at his residence. If not?

Later we learnt that the suicide bomber blown himself at the security post with a truck loaded 600kg of TNT.

The next morning, I was told the building beside Marriott also damaged. Talking about collateral damaged huh? FYI, the building beside Marriot is Evacuee Trust Complex. A business office building which my office is also in it.

I never thought that the explosion will produce such a catastrophic shockwave that it managed to break all the glass windows at ETC. Not only the windows, the offices is also damaged. Roofs fall down. Doors collapsed. Even concrete wall also not spared. Alhamdulillah, there were no one at the office during the explosion. My bosses' offices heavily damaged. Just see for yourself.

This kind of events makes you wonder. Makes you think about Death. How much have you done in Dunia. Is it enough for Akhirat?