A massive construction crane crashed
into Mecca’s Grand Mosque in stormy weather on Friday, killing at least 107
people and injuring 238, Saudi authorities said, days before the annual hajj
pilgrimage.
The civil defence agency said on
Twitter that emergency teams were sent to the scene after a “crane fell at the
Grand Mosque,” one of Islam’s most revered sites.
That came about an hour after it
tweeted that Mecca was “witnessing medium to heavy rains,” and pictures on
social media showed lightning.
Ahmed bin Mohammad al-Mansoori,
spokesman for the two holy mosques, was quoted by the official Saudi Press
Agency as saying part of a crane collapsed at 5:10 pm (1410 GMT) “as a result
of strong winds and heavy rains.”
Abdel Aziz Naqoor, who said he works
at the mosque, told AFP he saw the crane fall after being hit by the storm.
“If it weren’t for Al-Tawaf bridge
the injuries and deaths would have been worse,” he said, referring to a covered
walkway that surrounds the holy Kaaba and broke the crane’s fall.
The Kaaba is a massive cube-shaped structure at the centre of the mosque towards which Muslims worldwide pray and which has a major role in the hajj.
The Kaaba is a massive cube-shaped structure at the centre of the mosque towards which Muslims worldwide pray and which has a major role in the hajj.
Pictures of the incident on Twitter
showed bloodied bodies strewn across a courtyard where the top part of the
crane, which appeared to have bent or snapped, had crashed into the building
which is several storeys high.
A video on YouTube showed people
screaming and rushing around right after a massive crash was heard and as fog
engulfed the city.
The incident occurred as hundreds of
thousands of Muslims from all over the world gather for the annual hajj
pilgrimage expected to begin on September 21.
The Grand Mosque is usually at its
most crowded on Fridays, the Muslim weekly day of prayer.
Many faithful would have been gathered there ahead of evening maghrib prayers, which occurred about an hour after the tragedy.
Many faithful would have been gathered there ahead of evening maghrib prayers, which occurred about an hour after the tragedy.
– Pleas to donate blood –
The governor of Mecca region, Prince
Khaled al-Faisal, has ordered an investigation into the incident and was
heading to the mosque, the official @makkahregion page on Twitter said.
Irfan al-Alawi, co-founder of the
Mecca-based Islamic Heritage Research Foundation, compared the carnage to that
caused by a bomb.
He suggested authorities were
negligent by having a series of cranes overlooking the mosque.
“They do not care about the heritage,
and they do not care about health and safety,” he told AFP.
Alawi is an outspoken critic of redevelopment at the holy sites, which he says is wiping away tangible links to the Prophet Mohammed.
Alawi is an outspoken critic of redevelopment at the holy sites, which he says is wiping away tangible links to the Prophet Mohammed.
Online activists created a hashtag
on Twitter urging Mecca residents to donate blood at hospitals in the area.
No details were immediately
available on the nationalities of the victims.
Iran’s official IRNA news agency,
quoting the head of the Hajj Organisation, said 15 Iranian pilgrims were among
those injured.
Most of them were treated as
outpatients, Saeid Ohadi said.
A massive project is underway to
expand the area of the mosque by 400,000 square metres (4.3 million square
feet), allowing it to accommodate up to 2.2 million people at once.
Though marred in the past by deadly incidents including floods, stampedes and fires, the hajj has become nearly incident-free in recent years because of multi-billion dollar investments.
Though marred in the past by deadly incidents including floods, stampedes and fires, the hajj has become nearly incident-free in recent years because of multi-billion dollar investments.
These have included transport
networks and other infrastructure to facilitate movement of the crowds.
SPA said that almost 800,000 pilgrims had arrived by Friday for the hajj, which all able-bodied
SPA said that almost 800,000 pilgrims had arrived by Friday for the hajj, which all able-bodied
Muslims are expected to perform if
they have the means to do so.
Last year, just over two million
people took part.
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