Hotel fire in Mecca causes alarm

Riyadh: A fire broke out in a hotel in the Saudi city Mecca on Monday, sparking alarm among Haj pilgrims, an official said on Monday.

The hotel in Mecca, where some two million Muslims will perform the annual Haj pilgrimage, was evacuated after the fire, Xinhua news agency reported.

Civil Defence spokesman Nayef al-Sharif said no casualties were reported in the incident.

The fire erupted due to a faulty air conditioning unit on the eighth floor of the hotel in Azaziyah district. All 600 residents, most of them from Turkey and Yemen, were evacuated and later returned to the hotel.