Saudi Gazette, Makkah :
Three pilgrims were rushed to the hospital suffering from suffocation after a fire erupted at the upper floor of a 10-storey hotel in Makkah occupied by Asian pilgrims coming from Britain, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Monday.
The fire was successfully put off by Civil Defense fire extinguishing squads, said the spokesman of the Civil Defense.
The blaze gutted a dining room and a reception hall before the fire fighting teams were able to evacuate all the 107 Indonesian,
Indian and Pakistani pilgrims coming from Britain. An investigation was launched into the incident to determine the cause of the blaze.
Meanwhile, the Directorate General of Passports has finished entry procedures for 1,365,106 pilgrims.
The number of pilgrims who came by air was 1,293,248, by land 57,876 and by sea 13,982. This article was first published in the Saudi Gazette on Sept. 30, 2014.
