Monday, January 09, 2006

mecca

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More than 60 were injured as the hostel for pilgrims collapsed on Thursday.
Rescue operations ended late on Friday after teams worked through Thursday night searching for anyone trapped.
More than three million Muslims are in Mecca for the Hajj pilgrimage and people were praying in nearby streets when the building collapse occurred.
The building - on al-Ghazal Street - is only 60m from the walls of Mecca's Great Mosque - and was used by foreign pilgrims.
The Saudi interior ministry said that as many as 40 bodies remained unidentified.
Jordanians, Tunisians and at least seven Algerians living in France were among those killed, and there were reports that several Yemenis also died.
'Like an earthquake'
Survivors described the chaos as the building, which was at least four floors high, began to crumble.

The hostel that collapsed was said to be used by poor pilgrims"I heard one big noise," Tayeb Mizasha, 70, told the AFP news agency.
"At first I thought it was an earthquake. I do not know where my wife is," said the Algerian pilgrim.
Egyptian Rajab al-Sayed, 46, told how his party were engulfed as the hostel tumbled down.
"We were walking back from noon prayers and suddenly debris started falling down on us.
"We ran for our lives and two of my friends were taken down by the crowd."
Prayers
The hotel is surrounded by markets but many pilgrims were away praying at the time of the collapse. Many of the casualties were passers-by and local traders.
Eyewitnesses say they heard a huge cracking sound before the four-storey building toppled onto worshippers streaming out of the eastern gates of the mosque.
Reports said an unnamed official had suggested the foundations of the hotel had been cracked and weak. A regional civil defence director backed up this theory.
But the hotel's operator insisted that the structure was 25 years old and safe.
Mecca, Islam's holiest city, has been marred by tragic incidents during previous Hajj pilgrimages.
Deadly stampedes are relatively common. They killed 251 people in 2004 and 1,426 in 1990.

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