2005 Amman bombings

2005 Amman bombings
The three bombed-out hotels
Location	Amman, Jordan
Date	9 November 2005 began 20:50 (UTC+2)
Target	Three hotels
Attack type	Suicide bombings
Weapon	RDX suicide vests
Deaths	60, plus 3 suicide bombers
Non-fatal injuries	115
Perpetrators	Al-Qaeda in Iraq

The 2005 Amman bombings were a series of coordinated bomb attacks on three hotel lobbies in Amman, Jordan, on 9 November 2005. The attacks killed 60 people and injured 115 others. The explosions at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, the Radisson SAS Hotel, and the Days Inn started at around 20:50 local time (18:50 UTC) at the Grand Hyatt. The three hotels are frequented by foreign diplomats. The bomb at the Radisson SAS exploded in the Philadelphia Ballroom, where a wedding hosting hundreds of guests was taking place. Al-Qaeda in Iraq immediately claimed the attack. After the incident, the Jordanian government pledged to take new anti-terror measures to ensure that this would not happen again. The bombings are the last major terrorist attack in Jordan.

At the Radisson SAS Hotel (now known as the "Landmark Hotel"), two suicide bombers (a husband and wife team—Ali Hussein Ali al-Shamari and Sajida Mubarak Atrous al-Rishawi)—entered the Philadelphia Ballroom, where Ashraf Akhras and his bride, Nadia Al-Alami, were celebrating their wedding with around 900 Jordanian and Palestinian guests. Sajida al-Rishawi was unable to detonate her belt. Her husband Ali al-Shamari, apparently admonished her and told her to get out of the room. As she was leaving, the lights went out in the ballroom, Ali jumped onto a dining-room table and detonated himself. Among the 38 people killed in the explosion were the fathers of the bride and groom. In addition, the explosion destroyed the ballroom, blew out the large windows bordering the street, and knocked down ceiling panels. The hotel lobby was also affected: ceiling panels and light fixtures collapsed, furniture was destroyed, and the hotel's glass doors were shattered. Cleanup and rebuilding commenced shortly afterwards.

The second blast happened about 500 yards (457 metres) from the Radisson SAS. It destroyed the hotel's entrance and brought down pillars and ceiling tiles, along with badly damaging the reception and bar areas. After the bomber ordered orange juice in the hotel's coffee shop, he went to another room (possibly to get his explosive belt) and then came back and detonated his bomb. Seven hotel employees were killed in this blast, as were Syrian-American movie producer Moustapha Akkad and his daughter, Rima. Akkad, who is best known for producing the Halloween series of slasher films, was also the producer of Mohammad, Messenger of God. At the time of his death, he was in the early stages of producing a film about Saladin, the Kurdish Muslim leader who expelled the Crusaders from Palestine. Hyatt began cleanup shortly after the attacks and reopened their hotel on November 19.