Death toll rises to 53 in Saudi hostel collapse
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-01-06 21:55

At least 53 people were killed this week in the collapse of a Mecca hostel where Muslim pilgrims were staying for this year's haj, a Saudi official said on Friday.

Saudi authorities had said at least 18 people died when the hostel in the Muslim holy city of Mecca collapsed on Thursday.

The Interior Minister official said the number of dead could rise further as rescue teams continue to clear away rubble from the building, which collapsed in the mid-day bustle of a narrow market street.

The official put the number of injured at 62. The building was at least six storeys high and 30 years old.

The tragedy occurred days before Sunday's start of the five-day haj, when 2.5 million Muslims cram into the mountain city where Islam was born. More than a million pilgrims are already in Mecca.

Deadly stampedes, attacks by Islamist militants or the possibility that a dangerous virus could spread through the crowds like wildfire are three eventualities worrying the Saudi organizers of this year's pilgrimage.