Middle East

Mecca Grand Mosque crane collapse death toll rises to 107

Stormy winds led to incident which injured 238 people ahead of annual haj pilgrimage

Inside the Grand Mosque, Mecca, showing a part of a large crane that collapsed on the mosque. Photograph: EPA

Sat Sep 12 2015 - 13:45

Saudi Arabia said on Saturday that stormy winds knocked over the crane which collapsed on to one of Islam’s holiest shrines in Mecca and killed 107 people on Friday.

“Heavy rain and strong winds of unusually high speed led to the uprooting of trees, the fall of panels and the collapse of the crane,“ General Suleiman al-Amr, director general of the Civil Defence Authority, told Saudi-owned Al Arabiya TV on Saturday.

The number of deaths may increase, Mr al-Amr said. Many of the 238 people injured in the accident were only lightly wounded, he said.

Civil Defence personnel inspect the damage at the Grand Mosque in Mecca. Photograph: Saudi Arabia Civil Defence

An aerial view shows Muslim worshippers praying at the Grand Mosque, Mecca, surrounded by construction cranes, in July. Photograph: Ali Al Qarni/Reuters

“All those who were wounded and the dead have been taken to hospital. There are no casualties left at the location,” Mr al-Amr added.

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Mecca’s governor, Prince Khalid al-Faisal, has ordered an investigation into the incident, Al Arabiya said.

Much of the city centre is undergoing construction work and many high cranes crowd the skyline. The Grand Mosque itself is undergoing an expansion and renovation.

The disaster was the latest in a series of deadly mishaps to hit the haj, one of the world’s largest religious gatherings, after hundreds of pilgrims died in a stampede in 2006.

Authorities have broadened access paths and imposed limits on the millions of Muslims who converge on Mecca to perform the annual rite in an attempt to reduce accidents.

An unnamed Saudi official involved in organizing the haj was quoted by Al Arabiya as saying the pilgrimage would go ahead as planned.

“The incident won’t affect the haj pilgrimage this year and repairs to the damaged section [of the mosque] will begin within days,“ the official said.

A statement by a spokesman for the administration of the mosques in Mecca and Medina said the crane smashed into the part of the Grand Mosque where worshippers circumambulate the Kaaba and where pilgrims walk between Mount Safa and Marwa.

An Al Jazeera correspondent there, Hasan Patel, said witnesses had told him the crane smashed into the third floor of the Grand Mosque about 5:45pm (local time). He said the mosque was packed with people in advance of the 6:30pm. prayer.

Saudi authorities go to great lengths to prepare for the millions of Muslims who converge on Mecca to perform the sacred pilgrimage. Last year, they reduced the numbers permitted to perform haj on safety grounds because of construction work to enlarge the Grand Mosque.

Reuters, agencies

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