A fire started by workers welding on scaffolding damaged several floors of the largest development project in the Islamic holy city of Makkah, newspaper reports said on Friday. Six floors of the Sarah tower of the more than two-billion dollar, seven-tower King Abdul Aziz Endowment project adjacent to Makkah's grand mosque caught fire on Thursday, they said.
The fire was mostly extinguished by firemen late on Thursday, but only after sweeping through the 14th to 20th floors of the Sarah tower, Arab News said. There were no reports of any casualties. Sparks from the blaze set fire to scrap wood left on the roof of a nearby hospital, but it was extinguished, according to Madina newspaper.
Makkah fire officials and the Saudi Binladin group, in charge of construction of the project for the ministry of Islamic affairs and endowments, could not be contacted for comment. It was the second fire in six months to strike the massive project, which dominates Makkah's skyline, the reports said.
Earlier a 10-hour fire damaged nine storeys of the Hajer tower. The King Abdul Aziz Endowment project, also known as the Abraj Al-Bait Towers, is aimed at adding some 1.5 million square metres (16 million square feet) of hotel and residential space in Makkah.
Its central tower, billed as the world's largest clock tower, will rise 600 metres (nearly 2,000 feet) and have a massive clock that will announce prayers five times daily. The 76- storey tower will house a five-star Fairmont Hotel with 1,005 rooms and suites, according to Fairmont.
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