13 pilgrims killed in Saudi's Medina

The death toll from a hotel fire in the western city of Medina has fallen to 13, all of them pilgrims to Islam's second holiest city, Saudi officials said on Sunday.

Provincial authorities had previously announced 15 deaths in Saturday's blaze based on initial hospital reports that were incorrect.

About 700 pilgrims were staying at the Medina to perform the Umrah, or minor pilgrimage, when the fire broke out, according to the state-run Saudi Press Agency. 

The Egyptian consul general in the western Saudi city of Jiddah said that nine of the 13 killed are Egyptian pilgrims, among them at least two children. Their names have not been released.

Saudi authorities said in a statement that most of the 130 people injured from suffocation and burns in the blaze have been released from hospitals. Medina's health directorate says three people remain in intensive care.

Colonel Khaled al-Juhani, a Medina civil defence department official, told Al-Youm newspaper on Saturday that more than 110 security personnel battled to control the blaze.

Ahmad Zaki, an employee of the Egyptian Embassy in Jeddah, said maintenance work at the hotel led to an electrical fire.

Prince Faisal bin Salman, Medina's governor, said the government would look into the incident.

Medina is a major religious destination for Muslims. The city is the burial site of the Prophet Muhammad and is Islam's second holiest city after Mecca.

Al Jazeera and wire services