1,000 pilgrims evacuated during Saudi hotel fire

Makkah: Emergency officials in Saudi Arabia say more than 1,000 pilgrims were safely evacuated from a hotel in Makkah during a fire there ahead of the Haj.

Authorities say a blaze started today on the eighth floor of an 11-storey hotel in Makkah’s Aziziya neighbourhood.

Saudi civil defence officials say two pilgrims were being treated for injuries from the fire.

The Haj is expected to start on Monday. More than one million pilgrims have already arrived for the annual pilgrimage, which all able-bodied Muslims are required to perform once in their lives.