US believes bomb caused Marriott blast in Pakistan

[Rose Siding]

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States believes a blast that wounded several people at the Marriott hotel in Islamabad was caused by an improvised bomb and not an electrical short circuit as Pakistani officials have said, US State Department officials said.

"We don't have a definitive answer, but based on first-hand accounts it would appear that the force of the blast and the damage it did is more indicative of an explosive device than something caused by natural means or an electrical malfunction," one official said on Friday.

The officials, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity, said the State Department would not formally comment on the cause of the explosion yet because it remains under investigation by Pakistani authorities.

But the US embassy in Islamabad warned Americans to stay away from the vicinity of the luxury hotel and a State Department risk analysis unit said earlier that a homemade bomb was responsible for the explosion that caused extensive damage to the front entrance of the hotel.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1535&ncid=1276&e=4&u=/afp/20041029/wl_sthasia_afp/us_pakistan_blast

[carolinalady]

1. well certainly....

an electrical explosion???? Come on.