Mecca: Saudi authorities are investigating what caused a small hotel in Mecca to collapse on Thursday, killing scores of Muslim pilgrims and wounding 76 others, an Interior Ministry spokesman told Saudi's state-run news agency.
The hotel crumbled to the ground on Thursday, sending chunks of debris into the street and sidewalks packed with Muslims who are in Mecca for the annual Hajj pilgrimage which begins on Sunday.
Rescue teams are working through the night, searching for more victims and possible survivors beneath the rubble of the hotel, which is near the Grand Mosque in central Mecca, the focal point for much of the Hajj.
Four of those killed were citizens of the United Arab Emirates, UAE's state-run media, WAM, reported.
Millions of pilgrims are expected to arrive in Mecca for this year's Hajj, during which they participate in a series of rituals. The Koran requires every adult Muslim to make the journey to Mecca at least once, if possible.
The Hajj has been connected with deadly incidents in the past, most of them stampedes that take place during the actual ceremony.
The worst happened in 1990, when 1,426 pilgrims were trampled to death.
More recently, 251 pilgrims died two years ago in a stampede during a stone-throwing ritual that has been the trigger for previous deadly tramplings.
A stampede In 2003 killed 36 pilgrims, most of them en route to the devil-stoning ritual, conducted outside Mecca. In 2001, a stampede at the same ritual killed 35.
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