At least 76 people were killed in the collapse of a Saudi hostel where Muslims were staying for this year's haj pilgrimage, a Saudi official said this evening.
Authorities earlier said at least 53 had been killed when the hostel in the Muslim holy city of Mecca collapsed yesterday in the mid-day bustle of a narrow market street.
The building was at least six storeys high and 30 years old.
The tragedy occurred days before Sunday's start of the five-day haj, when 2.5 million Muslims cram into the mountain city where Islam was born. More than a million pilgrims are already in Mecca.
Deadly stampedes, attacks by Islamist militants or the possibility that a dangerous virus could spread through the crowds are three eventualities worrying the Saudi organisers of this year's pilgrimage.
