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Haj death toll rises to 76
06/01/2006 20:35 - (SA)
Sam Dagher
Mecca - The death toll from the collapse of a hotel in the holy Saudi city of Mecca has risen to at least 76, as Saudi rescue teams hunted through the rubble for survivors.
The multi-storey hotel collapsed on Thursday in the latest deadly tragedy to mark the haj or annual pilgrimage to Mecca, the holiest place in Islam.
"The death toll now stands at least 76 and the number of wounded remains as before (at 64)," said the head of the pilgrimage civil defence force, Major-General Alwani Jeddawi.
"We may find more people under the rubble, but we are looking to finish our work today and reopen the road," he had said earlier.
Earthmovers and heavy lifting equipment had worked through the night as rescuers hunted for survivors.
Interior ministry spokesperson General Mansul al-Turki said on Thursday that the rubble of the hostel in a crowded street near the Grand Mosque was being removed "very carefully" in the hope of finding survivors.
Armed with sound-detecting gear
The spokesperson gave no breakdown of the nationalities of the dead. But survivors said most pilgrims staying in the hostel came from India, Libya, Pakistan or the United Arab Emirates.
Emergency teams armed with sound-detecting gear have been working frantically since Thursday to try to locate survivors amid the rubble of the Luluat Al-Kheir (Pearl of Grace) hostel, which an official claimed was overcrowded.
"Through our inspection of the site... there was a clear indication that the building was overloaded," said regional civil defence director General Adel Zamzami.
Turki also cast doubt on the soundness of the building structure, claiming that some additions might have been made illegally.
On Thursday, witnesses spoke of their horror at the speed with which the block collapsed after a fire.
"It looked like a scene from September 11," said Talhah al-Mazi, 40, referring to the 2001 attacks in the United States.
"I saw people rushing out, crying and screaming for help," he said, adding that the cave-in happened just as pilgrims were finishing midday prayers in the square outside.
The tragedy came despite a massive deployment of security and civil defence personnel in a bid to prevent any repetitions of the deadly stampedes and structural failures that have marred previous pilgrimages.
It was 'Alla's will'
Stampedes killed 251 people in 2003 and 1 426 in 1990.
Surveyors were checking the structural safety of adjacent buildings and had already ordered two evacuated, said Zamzami.
He described the tragedy as "a small incident and not a disaster," insisting it was "Allah's will and this might happen any time".
There was no immediate word on what might have started the fire.
- AFP
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