nds76
11-09-2005, 3:59pm
AMMAN, Jordan - A Jordan police official said scores of people are believed to be dead after an explosion at one hotel in Amman. Initial reports conflicted over whether the hotel is the Radisson or the Grand Hyatt.
A witness to one of the explosions said at least seven people were killed.
Minutes later, The Associated Press quoted police say the Radisson SAS Hotel in downtown Amman also was hit by an explosion, and there were casualties. Then, police reported that a third explosion at the Days Inn Hotel has occurred in the capital, and there are casualties there as well.
A police spokesman says the cause of the blasts isn’t known. But an American businessman who was at the hotel says a bomb went off in the lobby.
A black cloud of smoke was seen rising from the building in Amman’s commercial district after the first explosion.
Both the Hyatt & Radisson Hotels are owned by Palestinians. The Hyatt is owned by Sabir Masri, said to be one of the wealthiest families living in Jordan. The Radisson Hotel is owned by the Nazal family from Ramallah.
The Hyatt hotel is home to numerous travelers from the Gulf region as well as American business men and government officials traveling in and out of Iraq. It is one of the few hotels in Amman totally accessible from the road, as is the Raddison.
Other U.S. hotels such as the Sheraton, Marriot & Four Seasons & Intercontinental have stepped up their security in recent months in fear of attacks. They are set back from the roads unlike the hotels attacked Wednesday.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9979747/
A witness to one of the explosions said at least seven people were killed.
Minutes later, The Associated Press quoted police say the Radisson SAS Hotel in downtown Amman also was hit by an explosion, and there were casualties. Then, police reported that a third explosion at the Days Inn Hotel has occurred in the capital, and there are casualties there as well.
A police spokesman says the cause of the blasts isn’t known. But an American businessman who was at the hotel says a bomb went off in the lobby.
A black cloud of smoke was seen rising from the building in Amman’s commercial district after the first explosion.
Both the Hyatt & Radisson Hotels are owned by Palestinians. The Hyatt is owned by Sabir Masri, said to be one of the wealthiest families living in Jordan. The Radisson Hotel is owned by the Nazal family from Ramallah.
The Hyatt hotel is home to numerous travelers from the Gulf region as well as American business men and government officials traveling in and out of Iraq. It is one of the few hotels in Amman totally accessible from the road, as is the Raddison.
Other U.S. hotels such as the Sheraton, Marriot & Four Seasons & Intercontinental have stepped up their security in recent months in fear of attacks. They are set back from the roads unlike the hotels attacked Wednesday.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9979747/