Panic as fire breaks out in Mecca hotel

A fire broke out in a hotel in the Saudi city of Mecca, which alarmed the annual hajj pilgrimage, the civil defence service said on Monday.

A hotel in the Saudi city of Mecca, where two million Muslims will perform the annual hajj pilgrimage, was evacuated Monday after a fire broke out, the civil defence service said.

Civil defence spokesman Nayef al-Sharif said no casualties were reported in the fire, which was sparked by a faulty air conditioning unit on the eighth floor of a hotel in the Azaziyah district of Mecca.

Sharif said all 600 residents, most of whom had come from Turkey and Yemen for the hajj pilgrimage, were evacuated and have since returned to the hotel.