A hotel in Makkah Azaziya neighborhood caught fire yesterday, sending plumes of smoke over the area as firefighters worked for hours to extinguish the flames that engulfed the 10-storey building.

According to the Saudi Press Agency, SPA, a spokesperson said in a statement that palm trees outside the hotel caught fire and flames from the fronds rapidly reached the building’s upper floors. SPA did not indicate how the trees caught fire or name the hotel.

Saudi Arabia’s Civil Defence said that no injuries or deaths have been reported from the fire which erupted Sunday just before noon. The hotel had already been vacated when rescue teams arrived on the scene.

The Azaziya neighborhood is home to many three-star hotels and is not in the vicinity of the Kaaba, Islam’s holiest site, where millions of pilgrims congregate year-round.

Source: emirates247.com