Saudi Arabia fire: Mecca hotel evacuated ahead of Hajj

Most of the hotel's 600 residents had come from Turkey and Yemen for the annual pilgrimage

This year's Hajj will take place in the first week of September. Ahmad Gharbali / AFP
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A hotel in Mecca, where two million Muslims will perform Hajj next month, was evacuated on Monday after a fire broke out, the civil defence service said.

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

All 600 residents, most of whom had come from Turkey and Yemen for Hajj, were evacuated and have since returned to the hotel, Mr Al Sharif said.

The annual pilgrimage will take place in the first week of September.