RIYADH, Dec. 26: At least 16 people suffered smoke inhalation on Monday evening when fire broke out in the Dar Al-Gaza apartments in the Juffali Building located about 200 meters from the Masjidul Haram in Makkah. The building was housing about 2,000 pilgrims from Yemen, the UAE and Indonesia, and is located next to the building that collapsed in January during the last Haj season that killed 76 people.

“It appears that the fire broke out from the basement of the building and spread to the first floor,” said Major General Mansour Al-Turki, spokesman for the Interior Ministry. The cause of the fire, which was quickly extinguished by Civil Defense firefighters, was said to be an electrical short circuit.

“It seems that the fire started from the mezzanine floor and quickly engulfed the whole building. People rushed to the rooftop to save their lives,” witnesses told the local press.

A Yemeni diplomat said Yemen’s Waqf (religious endowments) and guidance minister, Hamoud Mohammad Abad, was among those injured. The injured were admitted to Sheesha, Ajyad and Zahra hospitals in Makkah for treatment. “All of them are in a stable condition now,” hospital sources told the Saudi daily Arab News.

Since the fire broke out before Asr prayer, most of the residents had gone to the Grand Mosque to pray, leaving mostly elderly pilgrims in the building.