1,500 pilgrims evacuated over fire in Mecca hotel
A fire at a hotel in Saudi Arabia’s holy city of Mecca has forced some 1,500 people to leave the place as hundreds of thousands of Muslims are in the city to perform the Hajj pilgrimage.
According to the Saudi civil defense department, the incident occurred on Monday in a 15-story hotel.
Four Yemeni pilgrims have suffered minor injuries in the fire, state news agency SPA quoted the department as saying.
A preliminary probe has reportedly blamed the incident on a short circuit in a room.
The incident comes after on Thursday about 1,000 Asian pilgrims were evacuated from another hotel in Mecca following a fire at the eighth floor of the place. Two Indonesian pilgrims were wounded.
The Hajj pilgrimage and performing all of its rituals is one of the central pillars of Islam. Every able-bodied Muslim who can afford it must make the pilgrimage at least once.
The Hajj has been almost incident-free for the past several years. However, on September 11, a crane collapsed at the Grand Mosque of Mecca, killing over 100 people. Hundreds of people were also injured.
A report by the committee investigating the crash later found the construction giant, Saudi Binladin Group "in part responsible" for the tragedy.
Saudi King Salman has put sanctions on the construction company over the crash. Salman suspended the group from participating in new contracts and ordered the Saudi Finance Ministry to review the firm’s current contracts.
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