Peshawar, Pakistan: A powerful blast rocked a five-star hotel in Peshawar on Tuesday killing 11 people and injuring at least 40 others including many foreign guests.
The blast occurred within the compound of the Pearl Continental Hotel located within the cantonment in the North West Frontier Province capital of Peshawar at about 8.30 pm.
The rear of the hotel collapsed after the powerful explosion, which was heard from several kilometres away.
District Coordination Officer Sahibzada Anis told reporters that five persons were killed in the blast. Other officials, meanwhile, said about 40 people were injured, and several people were still feared trapped in the debris.
The blast also destroyed about 30 vehicles in the hotel's parking lot and damaged a nearby mosque. Reports said that a provincial minister and a senator were among the injured.
Witnesses said four or five gunmen entered the hotel's compound from the rear and began firing indiscriminately. The hotel's guards retaliated by firing at the gunmen before an explosive-laden car went off.
Rescue workers had to use ladders to access the building after the rear of the hotel collapsed.
TV channels beamed footage of people in blood-stained clothes being carried out of the hotel and the mangled remains of vehicles destroyed by the blast.
Security agencies blocked all roads leading to the hotel after the blast as fire fighters, bomb disposal personnel and ambulances rushed to the site.
Thick black smoke rose into the sky after the explosion. Officials also rushed several foreigners out of the hotel after the attack.
The Pearl Continental is located near the official residences of the Corps Commander of Peshawar and the police chief of the North West Frontier Province.
Strict security arrangements are in place in the area and all cars are checked on the road leading to the Pearl Continental and at the hotel.
The hotel belongs to Pakistani tycoon Sadruddin Hashwani, who also owns the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad that was attacked by a suicide bomber last year. Nearly 60 people, including two US Marines, were killed in that attack.
A recent report in the western media said the US State Department had plans to purchase the Pearl Continental for use as the consulate in Peshawar. The Pearl Continental is Peshawar's only five-star hotel and is set in its own expansive grounds.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack though officials have blamed the Pakistani Taliban for a series of bombings and suicide attacks that have occurred across the country since the army launched operations against militants in Swat and nearby areas last month.
Militants targeted the offices of the Inter-Services Intelligence agency and police in Lahore in a recent attack.
Suicide attackers have also struck in Peshawar, Dera Ismail Khan and Islamabad in the past few days. (With NDTV inputs)