MONROE - Joey Norton knows how lucky she is that her daughter wasn't injured Saturday when a suicide bomber attacked a hotel in Pakistan.
"It was the grace of God," the Monroe woman said of the fact her daughter wasn't in the Marriott Hotel.
Nancy Norton Brown, a 1971 Monroe High School graduate, could easily have been in the hotel. Brown works for a computer company near Washington D.C. Part of her job is to teach computer programing to her company's customers. She travels all over the world, her mother said.
Last weekend she was in Pakistan.
"She registered at the hotel last Saturday morning," Norton said, "and then went down the street to have lunch with a friend."
About 20 minutes after Brown registered at the hotel, a truck packed with explosives blew up after the driver stopped it in front of the hotel.
Norton received a call from her daughter Sunday.
"She was pretty calm," Norton said of her daughter. "She said it was scary, though."
Brown plans to leave Pakistan sometime today to return home.
"I wish she was already home," Norton said.
Two of Brown's co-workers were in the hotel's restaurant but were able to escape out the back door. Neither of them were injured.
According to the Associated Press, the blast left a vast crater some 30 feet deep in front of the building. Rescuers ferried a stream of bloodied bodies from the gutted structure after the attack, then pulled back for fear that it could collapse. Early on Sunday, investigators combed the gaping hole for evidence and rescue teams searched the building room by room.
The fire still burned more than six hours after the blast and had gutted the hotel, sending up a thick pall of smoke over the area.
The five-story Marriott had been a favorite spot for foreigners as well as Pakistani politicians and business people to stay and socialize in Islamabad despite repeated militant attacks on it.
At least 53 died in the explosion, including two U.S. Defense Department employees and the Czech ambassador. About 260 people were injured.
"It was the grace of God," the Monroe woman said of the fact her daughter wasn't in the Marriott Hotel.
Nancy Norton Brown, a 1971 Monroe High School graduate, could easily have been in the hotel. Brown works for a computer company near Washington D.C. Part of her job is to teach computer programing to her company's customers. She travels all over the world, her mother said.
Last weekend she was in Pakistan.
"She registered at the hotel last Saturday morning," Norton said, "and then went down the street to have lunch with a friend."
About 20 minutes after Brown registered at the hotel, a truck packed with explosives blew up after the driver stopped it in front of the hotel.
Norton received a call from her daughter Sunday.
"She was pretty calm," Norton said of her daughter. "She said it was scary, though."
Brown plans to leave Pakistan sometime today to return home.
"I wish she was already home," Norton said.
Two of Brown's co-workers were in the hotel's restaurant but were able to escape out the back door. Neither of them were injured.
According to the Associated Press, the blast left a vast crater some 30 feet deep in front of the building. Rescuers ferried a stream of bloodied bodies from the gutted structure after the attack, then pulled back for fear that it could collapse. Early on Sunday, investigators combed the gaping hole for evidence and rescue teams searched the building room by room.
The fire still burned more than six hours after the blast and had gutted the hotel, sending up a thick pall of smoke over the area.
The five-story Marriott had been a favorite spot for foreigners as well as Pakistani politicians and business people to stay and socialize in Islamabad despite repeated militant attacks on it.
At least 53 died in the explosion, including two U.S. Defense Department employees and the Czech ambassador. About 260 people were injured.