ANXIOUS Bolton families are spending the joyous Eid al-Adha anxiously awaiting news of relatives and friends caught up in the fire disaster at Mecca.

Today is the Moslem equivalent of Christmas Day but with no more news of the fate of the 200 plus Bolton people who made the pilgrimage to Mecca, celebrations in the town will be subdued for dozens of families. The fire which broke out on the sprawling encampment of tents housing almost all the two million pilgrims, killed 343 people, injuring 1,290 others. Initial news suggests only two of the injured are from Britain, but Bolton people say this has not allayed their fears. Mohammed Ilyas, of Southfield Street, Great Lever, is still waiting to hear news of his mother and father who made the trip to Saudi Arabia.

Asmatullah Khan, 70, and Amyat Begum, 63, last contacted their son two weeks ago.

However, Mr Ilyas has not heard from them since and says he does not know whether they are alive or dead. He said: "On Tuesday night I heard about the fire on the news and have been very worried ever since.

"It is very worrying. No one can telephone them. We cannot reach them. All we can do is wait.

"It is a horrible time for us all. My father last went to Mecca in 1975, but this was the first time for my mother and she was very excited.

"We are a very big family and there are other relatives over there. I have been visiting other family members and no one has heard anything.

"Many of the relatives I visited were in tears. We feel so very helpless.

"They are all due back in Bolton the weekend after next, and until then all we can do is sit and wait.

"Last night worried relatives from Pakistan telephoned us to see if we had any more information than they did. But we could not help them.

"This is the equivalent of our Christmas day today, but this tragedy has cast a shadow over it."

The nationalities of the dead have not been released, but diplomats said most of them were from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

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