Injury: policemen carry a victim

A suspected car bomb attack hit a luxury hotel in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, yesterday killing at least 40 people.

According to the city's police chief Asghar Raza Gardazi, "A car laden with explosives rammed the gate at the Marriott hotel and so far we have brought out 40 dead bodies, but the number could well be higher."

The bomb is believed to have been detonated around 8pm local time. It was forceful enough to destroy the front of the popular hotel and leave a crater 10m deep. Fire began in at least two places in the building and then stretched to other parts of the 290-room hotel.

A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs last night said it had not been informed whether any Irish people were caught up in the blast, and was in the process of making contact with the Irish embassy in Tehran.