A fire at a Mecca girls school that had no emergency exits led to 14 girls being killed and 50 suffering injuries, Saudi media reported today.
The English-language Saudi Gazettesaid yesterday's fire itself did not kill anyone but that victims suffocated, fell to their deaths from the windows of the four-story building or were trampled to death as they rushed to escape.
The paper said the school had no emergency exits. It reported that some witnesses said the main gate of the 31st Girls Middle School in Mecca, 466 miles southeast of Riyadh, could not be opened immediately because the key was with the guard, and he was away.
The official Saudi Press Agency(SPA) said students started screaming, setting off the stampede. The SPA, quoting a statement from girl school's authorities, put the toll at 14 dead and 50 injured.
Some of the injured were hospitalised in critical condition, the Gazettesaid.
AP