"The five men were visitors to the court. They were rescued by the Civil Defense. No one suffered breathing difficulties or any other problems," said Lt. Col. Ali Al-Muntashri, spokesman for the Civil Defense in the holy city.

"This is the third time visitors have been caught inside a lift in the court in the past two years. One man died in a similar incident before," he added.

The occurrence has led to people questioning why no standby generators have been installed at the court for emergencies.

The power outrage affected life across the city with classes disrupted at Umm Al-Qura University.

The Saudi Electricity Company said in a statement on Monday that the power supply was stopped to test three new transformers.