MAKKAH, 17 May 2003 — Fourteen people were killed and 43 injured when a massive fire swept through a residential tower in the holy city of Makkah, a high-ranking civil defense official said.
Brig. Ahmed ibn Saad Al-Thubaity, director general of the department in the Makkah region, said 37 of those injured already left hospital after receiving treatment.
The official did not give the breakdown of the nationalities of the victims in the incident, which took place at 10.50 p.m. on Thursday. But one report said that at least two Pakistanis died in the incident.
Makkah Governor Prince Abdul Majeed said those who caused the fire would be brought to account.
“We cannot hold anybody responsible now until the investigations are completed,” the governor told Asharq Al-Awsat, a sister publication of Arab News.
“Even if it was negligence, the responsible will be punished,” he added. Prince Abdul Majeed said the punishment would be in accordance with Shariah law.
“Those found responsible will be asked to pay the cost of treating the injured and the blood money of SR120,000 to each of the victims’ families,” he said.
The governor urged the authorities to inspect all buildings for pilgrims in the city to ensure they are safe. “Those who are found wanting will be punished to deter others,” he warned.
The Pakistani Consulate General yesterday identified the dead Pakistanis as Shahir Ahmed Sharif and Qalundhar Khan Ishaq.
In a statement, the consulate said eight Pakistanis were injured, adding that three of them — Maqbool Ahmed, Asim Sheikh and Zar Gul Malik — were admitted to hospital. Only Maqbool now remains in hospital and his condition is stable, the consulate said.
“The Pakistanis came here from Riyadh and its surrounding areas to perform Umrah,” it added.
The blaze was quickly brought under control by firefighters, Thubaity said, adding that an investigation to determine the exact causes of the fire was under way.
Thursday’s fire started in a mattress storeroom on the second floor of the 14-story building housing pilgrims before spreading to the upper floors, suffocating a number of people.
Firefighters saved two children aged two and three years. The building is located in Ajyad Bakhsh District, close to the Grand Mosque.
The Civil Defense Department said 18 fire-fighting teams took part in the operation, which was directly supervised by Brig. Thubaity. The civil defense officers said it was difficult to control the fire because of the narrowness of the building’s entrance. “There is only a single exit for the building. This complicated the rescue operation,” they added.
They said the billowing smoke from the mattress store increased the number of casualties. “There were 270 pilgrims of different nationalities inside the building at the time of the fire,” the civil defense chief said. He said most of the pilgrims died of suffocation, adding that only six, including four civil defense officers, remained in hospital.
“The twin-tower building has all the safety devices like warning sirens and emergency exits, etc., but they were not activated. This increased the number of casualties,” Thubaity said. He urged all hotel owners to activate their safety means in order to prevent such accidents in the future.
