Death toll from collapsed Mecca hotel reaches 53

Rescue workers still hoped to find survivors from a four-story building that collapsed in Islam’s holiest city, killing at least 53 people and marring the start of the annual gathering of millions of pilgrims.

The owner of the collapsed Mecca hotel in Saudi Arabia, says British, French, UAE, Egyptian, Indonesian citizens were among the guests.

Under spotlights, hundreds of men worked with cranes and other tools through the night to remove huge slabs of concrete from the site of yesterday’s collapse.

Some workers cut through steel girders with blow torches and others used microphones to listen for signs of life.

Interior Ministry spokesman Maj Gen Mansour al-Turki said the death toll has reached 53 with 62 injured, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.

Previously security officials had put the injured toll at 70.

“I believe that people are trapped and I still hope to find some survivors,” said Brig Hamad al-Ahmadi, who oversaw the night operation.

Relatives of people who were in the building waited all night at the scene for news of their loved ones.

But rescue workers have recovered only dead bodies today.