PHOTO: AFP
MAKKAH: A fire forced some 1,500 people from their hotel in Makkah on Monday as pilgrims gathered for the annual Hajj pilgrimage, the Saudi civil defence department said.
Four Yemeni pilgrims sustained minor injuries following the pre-dawn fire in a 15-storey hotel, state news agency SPA quoted the department as saying.
A preliminary investigation found a short circuit in a room to have caused the fire, it said.
The hotel's guests are among close to two million Muslims from around the world expected for the Hajj, which begins officially on Tuesday.
On Thursday about 1,000 Asian pilgrims were evacuated from their high-rise hotel in Makkah when a fire broke out. Two Indonesian pilgrims were injured.
The Hajj has been almost incident-free for the past decade. However, 108 people, including foreign pilgrims, died earlier this month when a construction crane fell on the Grand Mosque.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 22nd, 2015.
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