What caused more deaths at Marriott Hotel Islamabad? The Blast or Inefficient Disaster Management?

September 22nd, 2008 by Kashif Aziz ( 584 Views )

After the fateful blast at Marriott Hotel Islamabad, all TV channels showed people shouting and waving for help from galleries and windows of their rooms. Most of them succumbed to fire and other post-blast hazards without getting any help.

The incident while highlighted security lapses and loopholes in the capital, it also raised questions about efficiency and professionalism of disaster management infrastructure. It was evident from CCTV footage that security guards at Marriott Hotel barricades were not prepared or equipped for fire fighting. The delay in fire diffusion caused second blast which proved to be lethal, causing the carnage and great loss of lives.

Disaster management skills of CDA and other civil institutions of Islamabad were tested when Margala Tower collapsed during Earthquake 2005 . At that time, they were not anywhere near the mark therefore help from Armed Forces and international community was sought to remove debris and perform relief and rescue operations. Afterwards, there was talk of upgrading the infrastructure and doing this and that. However, all the hype was bogged down after Marriott Blast.

The fire tenders of Islamabad Fire Department were last to arrive on the scene, while there was no proper emergency system was in place at Islamabad hospitals.

The blast at Marriott again showed that there is no system in Pakistan and we are doing everything on Allah-tawakal. We beat the trail after snake is gone and suspend poor security officials while the man-himself responsible for overall security takes no blame.

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This entry was posted on Monday, September 22nd, 2008 and is filed under Current Affairs .

Tagged with: CDA, Islamabad, Marriott Hotel

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One Response to “What caused more deaths at Marriott Hotel Islamabad? The Blast or Inefficient Disaster Management?”

1

Nadcracker
September 22nd, 2008 15:45 GMT
…And then right after the blast, Zardari flies off to the US to collect his check (for a job well done).

I said this a couple of weeks back (when zardari became president) that Pakistan is now officially on sale, and what we saw on Saturday was a result of a bid that US made to Zardari.

US: “Let us invade your land and we shall give you shit loads of money in return”

Zardari: “That’s fine but how will I justify US invasion to my people?”

US: “We’ll just say that Pakistan is incapable of fighting terrorism on its own”

Zardari: “Yes but simply saying it won’t fool my people. Believe me I’ve sucked this nation’s blood for 2 terms and each time I realized the nation somehow became more aware. I then had to think of new ways to fool them.”

US: “hehehe…you leave that to us. Just tell you VIPs not to go near Marriott on the 20th.”

Zardari: “Great sounds like a plan.”

US: “So we have a deal? I’ll wire the money when it’s done”.

Zardari: “NO NO NO NO…don’t wire the money Dammit!! NAB will be on my case before I can even blink. I’ll personally come to US and pick the cash up 2 to 3 hours after the blast.”

US: “You got it”.

I’m sure Zardari is busy counting mints right now in some 7 star hotel in America.

Pakistan Khaapay Khaapay Khaapy.

Pakistan se ZINDA bhag!

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