Pics: Yahya Hallare
Daijiworld Media Network
Updated
Riyadh, Sep 11 (AFP): A massive construction crane crashed into Makkah's Grand Mosque in stormy weather, killing at least 107 people and injuring 238, Saudi authorities said, days before the annual Haj pilgrimage.
The civil defence agency said on Twitter yesterday 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 Makkah 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 local time (1940 IST) "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 Haj.
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 Haj 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.
The governor of Makkah 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 Makkah-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.
Two Indians killed, 15 injured
Two Indians were among 107 killed in Saudi Arabia's holy city of Mecca where a construction crane crashed into the Grand Mosuqe on Friday. The accident also left 15 Indians injured.
"Our officials from the Indian Consulate in Jeddah have been on the ground and monitoring the situation through the night. We have received reports that 15 Indians have been injured are being assisted in various hopsitals," ministry of external affairs spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted.
He also said that two Indians have been killed in the unfortunate accident.
Swarup said senior officers including the Consul General are in Mecca and Indian doctors deployed in all government hospitals are trying to get more information.
President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the loss of lives in the crane collapse.
"Heartfelt condolences to families of deceased due to crane crash in Mecca, prayers for speedy recovery of the injured," President Mukherjee tweeted.
Prime Minister Modi, in a tweet, said, "My thoughts & prayers are with the families of those who lost their lives in the crane crash in Mecca. I wish the injured a quick recovery."
Earlier Report: Sep 11
Riyadh: 87 dead as crane crashes into Makkah's Grand Mosque
With Additional Pics by Yahya Hallare
Daijiworld Media Network
Updated
Riyadh, Sep 11 (AFP): At least 87 people were killed and 184 injured when a construction crane crashed into the Grand Mosque of Saudi Arabia's holy Muslim city of Mecca today, the civil defence authority said.
Authorities had given an earlier toll of 65 killed and 154 hurt in the incident which comes as hundreds of thousands of Muslims from around the world were gathering in Mecca for the annual Haj pilgrimage which begins in less than two weeks.
Of those injured, at least nine people are reported to be Indian pilgrims, foreign ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted.
"Our Consulate in Jeddah is monitoring situation in Makkah following tragic accident. We have received reports that 9 Indian pilgrims are injured," Swaroop said.
Pictures circulating on social media showed bloodied bodies strewn across a courtyard where the top part of the crane, which appeared to have collapse or snapped, had crashed into it.
It was raining heavily at the time.
The incident occurred as hundreds of thousands of Muslims gather from all over the world for the annual Haj pilgrimage set to begin later this month.
The Grand Mosque is usually at its most crowded on Fridays, the Muslim weekly day of prayer.
It houses the Kaaba -- the massive cube-shaped structure towards which Muslims worldwide pray.
A massive project is currently underway to increase 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.
The mosque is surrounded by a number of cranes.
The Haj has largely been incident-free during the past few years, with Saudi Arabia investing billions of dollars in transport and other infrastructure to facilitate the movement of the huge numbers of people who take part.
With Inputs from Agencies