Suicide bomber strikes Pakistani hotel

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Sept. 20 (UPI) -- A suicide bomber rammed an explosives-packed truck into an Islamabad hotel Saturday, killing at least 60 people and injuring 200, Pakistani television reported.

The blast at the Marriott Hotel was one of the largest ever in a terrorist attack in Pakistan, Press Trust of India reported. The bombing left a crater 20 feet deep and 30 feet across and set off a fire at the hotel.

The Pakistani broadcaster ARY TV put the death toll at 60.

Experts estimated the truck was carrying more than 2,000 pounds of explosives.

The bombing was the second at the Marriott. Last year, a suicide bomber killed himself and one other person.

News reports from Pakistan said the victims Saturday included foreign visitors and Pakistani police officers and security guards. At the time of the approximately 8 p.m. explosion, the dining room at the hotel was crowded with people eating their evening meal after the daylong fast of Ramadan.

The blast also gutted at least 20 cars parked near the hotel and damaged neighboring buildings, including the headquarters of the state television network.

A few hours earlier, President Asif Ali Zardari had promised to end terrorism in Pakistan, the BBC reported.