Six Indian Haj pilgrims were among the 59 injured as Hotel Luluat Al-Khair in Makkah collapsed, killing more than 20 people, a spokesman of the Ministry of Interior, Saudi Arabia has said.
At least 35 injured people from the Emirates and six from India were admitted to King Abdul Aziz Hospital (Zaher) on Thursday, the Saudi Gazette reported.
An injured woman Haj pilgrim from Kerala's Malapuram district, identified as Pathummu by the Indian mission in Makkah, suffered injuries on her face and was released after being treated at a hospital, said Indian Consul General Ausaf Sayeed. Her Haj cover number was given as KL2132/6.
Rescue workers were trying to clear the debris, which stood almost 15 feet from the ground.
The accident took place when the pilgrims were returning to their building after offering Dhuhr prayers at the Haram. The building came tumbling down on the street, just as they were walking beneath it.
Haj this year has drawn some two million pilgrims to the holy cities. The number of pilgrims to Makkah has increased 11-fold over the past 15 years.
The Saudi government has spent billions of dollars to improve accommodation, transportation and medical facilities for the pilgrims over the past years but tragedies have been quite frequent.
The worst Haj tragedy occurred in 1990 when 1,426 pilgrims were killed during a stampede in an overcrowded pedestrian tunnel leading to holy sites in Makkah.
In 2004, on the final day of the rituals, 251 people were trampled to death when the crowd panicked during the ritual stoning of the Jamarat in Mina.
In 1998, about 180 pilgrims were killed when panic erupted after several people fell off an overpass during the ritual. In 1994, some 270 pilgrims were killed in a stampede during the stoning ritual.
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