4 Yemeni pilgrims injured in Mecca hotel fire

Four Yemeni nationals were injured today in a fire at a hotel here, forcing some 1,500 pilgrims to evacuate as hundreds of thousands of Muslims from around the world gathered in this Saudi city for Hajj.
This was the second fire incident after a similar incident last Thursday when about 1,000 Asian pilgrims were evacuated from their high-rise hotel in Mecca.
The civil defence department said four Yemeni nationals were injured in the pre-dawn fire on the 11th floor of the 15-storey hotel, state news agency SPA reported.
The pilgrims later returned to the hotel after the authorities confirmed the site safe.

A preliminary investigation found that the incident was caused due to a short-circuit in one of the rooms, it said.
About 20 lakh pilgrims from around the world, including the more than 1.5 lakh Indians, have gathered in Islam's holiest city for the annual pilgrimage, which officially begins tomorrow.