Originally published on February 9, 2014
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fifteen people were killed and around 130 were injured when a fire broke out in a hotel packed with Muslim pilgrims in the Saudi Arabian city of Medina on Saturday (February 8). An Egyptian state television station reported the blaze may have been sparked by an electrical short circuit.
Meanwhile, Ahmad Zaki, an employee of the Egyptian embassy in Jeddah, told the Youm al-Sabaa newspaper that maintenance work at the hotel led to an electrical fire.
About 700 Muslim pilgrims were staying in the hotel at the time of the blaze. All 15 who were killed were Egyptians, according to reports.
"At 2:33pm this afternoon a fire occurred at a hotel located east of the central region, home to about 700 of pilgrims of different nationalities," the Medina governorate said.
Mohammed Mahmoud Kheyat, spokesman for the Saudi Red Crescent in Medina told reporters that many deaths were "... caused by fainting, choking, bleeding and cardiac arrest and breathing."
Saudi Arabia's state news agency reported that it took rescue teams more than two hours to put out the fire, while a nearby hotel was also evacuated as a precautionary measure.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Welcome to TomoNews, where we animate the most entertaining news on the internets. Come here for an animated look at viral headlines, US news, celebrity gossip, salacious scandals, dumb criminals and much more! Subscribe now for daily news animations that will knock your socks off.
Check out our official website: http://us.tomonews.net/
For news that's fun and never boring, visit our channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/TomoNewsUS
Subscribe to stay updated on all the top stories:
http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=TomoNewsUS
Stay connected with us here:
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/TomoNewsUS
Twitter @tomonewsus http://www.twitter.com/TomoNewsUS
Google+ http://gplus.to/TomoNewsUS
Instagram @tomonewsus http://instagram.com/tomonewsus
