Fire forces 1,000 pilgrims from Makkah hotel

About 1,000 Asian pilgrims were evacuated early yesterday from their hotel in the Saudi city of Mecca, hit by a fire that injured two people, the civil defence agency said.

Firefighters "rescued two pilgrims who were hurt" by the fire in an eighth-floor room of the unnamed hotel, the agency said.

More than one million faithful have already arrived in Mecca for this year's hajj, which begins Tuesday.

The agency also did not give the nationality of the pilgrims, nor say what caused the blaze.

The hajj is the world's biggest annual event. It is one of the five pillars of Islam, and every able-bodied Muslim who can afford it is expect to make the pilgrimage at least once.