No Lankan Haj pilgrim affected by accident
 

BY MOHAMMED Rasooldeen in Riyadh

NO Sri Lankan Haj pilgrim was affected when a four-storey building collapsed in the Gazza area, a short walk from the Grand Mosque, which killed 20 and seriously injured 59 pilgrims.

Pilgrims crowded the area trying to get information about friends and relatives. Foreign Haj missions have been flooded with inquiries.

"Our team visited the crash site and did not find any Sri Lankan casualties," Masihudeen Inamullah, Sri Lankan Consul General told the Daily News, adding that the Colombo pilgrims are safe.

He said all Sri Lankan pilgrims arrived safely and some have moved to Medina to visit the Prophet's Mosque. They will return in time for the Haj rituals.

Inamullah said only one death has been reported among Sri Lankan pilgrims. Fatima Rifqa Marzook, 43, from China Fort Beruwela died last week and her burial took place in Mecca. "She died of a natural cause," the Consul said.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Prince Naif ordered an investigation into the cause of the collapse. Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki said that 11 of the confirmed dead were men, eight women and the gender of one could not be ascertained. Of the 59 injured, 18 are women and 41 men.

He said the owner of the building, which was supposed to house not more than 65 people, had made additions to its structure illegally according to preliminary findings.

The tragedy occurred at about 1.20 p.m. as thousands of pilgrims made their way back from the Holy Mosque after Zuhr (noon prayers).

Many of the victims were hit by large chunks of falling debris. Emergency rescue units, including the Saudi Civil Defence and the Red Crescent Society, arrived on the scene shortly after the collapse.

Helicopters hovered overhead and ambulances, with sirens wailing, took the injured and the dead bodies to three main hospitals in the area: Ajyad, Al Nour and Zahr.

The director general of the Red Crescent Society in Makkah, Khaled Al-Hebshi, told Arab News that 70 ambulances ferried the injured to hospitals.

"It is not an easy task finding and rescuing people from under the rubble but the efforts by the ambulance units and the civil defense will continue as long as it takes," he said.

Saudi authorities confirmed last night that three of the dead were Emiratis.

Two clothing stores, each staffed by six Bangladeshi workers, and a shoe store operated by a Yemeni man were located on the first floor of the building, which area residents said, was the oldest building in what otherwise is an area of modern high-rise structures.

Although the cause of the collapse remains unknown, people at the scene said the building was structurally unsound despite its renovated exterior.