Flames Engulf the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan

After the U.S. embassy in Tehran was seized, Washington ordered its embassies throughout the world to review their security. The mission in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad finished its review with the observation that, in the words of an Administration official, "the embassy was totally dependent on the Pakistani government for protection." The very next day, that proved to be dangerously true.

Angered by false radio reports that Americans were responsible for the seizure of the Sacred Mosque at Mecca, some 10,000 Pakistanis attacked the U.S. headquarters, throwing bricks arid setting cars afire. It was 1 p.m., and not until about an hour later did police appear; they found themselves outnumbered, and left. The rioters, many of them students, crashed into the embassy, trapped some 90 employees in a vault room and set the building afire. There were cries of "Kill the American dogs!"

Not until 4 p.m. did Pakistani army troops arrive, and they stayed to one side.

Hearing of the violence, President Carter got on the telephone to President Mohammed Zia ul-Haq and told him that Pakistan was responsible for the Americans' safety. Zia, who seized power in a coup 2 1/2 years ago and whose regime has been facing stiff resistance, said he had been doing what he could, but he proved reluctant to use real force against the crowd.

Only at night, with the embassy in flames, did the mob disperse, its passion spent. The toll of dead in the seven-hour rampage: one American Marine and an Army warrant officer, two Pakistani embassy clerks and two rioters.

There were also large demonstrations in Karachi, and the American cultural centers in Lahore and Rawalpindi were burned and gutted. The next day Washington ordered all "nonessential embassy personnel" and dependents evacuated from Pakistan. Thereupon some 400 Americans, mostly wives and children of U.S. personnel, flew home.

There was one journalist among the Americans trapped in the embassy--TIME's New Delhi Bureau Chief Marcia Ganger. Below is her dramatic account of the extraordinary and terrifying hours inside the besieged embassy.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.