Panic broke out as the massive crane came crashing down on the mosque, one of Islam's holiest sites, as worshippers gathered for weekly Friday prayers.
Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims have already arrived in Mecca for the hajj, which last year drew two million worshippers.
A Saudi official said this year's hajj would go ahead despite the tragedy.
Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-populated nation, said two of its nationals were killed, while Malaysia and Iran said its citizens were among those injured.
As world leaders offered condolences, the governor of Mecca region, Prince Khaled al-Faisal, ordered an investigation into the incident.
Abdel Aziz Naqoor, who said he works at the mosque, told AFP he saw the massive construction 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, which broke the crane's fall.
The Kaaba is a massive cube-shaped structure at the centre of the mosque towards which Muslims worldwide pray...
AFP
ahram.org.eg
12/9/15
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Saudi Arabia blames winds for deadly crane collapse as 107 killed...
ReplyDeleteSaudi Arabian authorities have said that stormy winds knocked over the crane which collapsed onto one of Islam's holiest shrines in Mecca and killed 107 people yesterday.
"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 today.
The number of deaths may increase, Mr al-Amr said. Many of the 238 people injured in the accident were not seriously hurt, he said.
Mecca's governor, Prince Khaled 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............http://www.rte.ie/news/2015/0912/727398-saudi-crane-accident/
12/9/15
The spokesman for Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry says some 100,000 security personnel have been deployed to oversee the annual Islamic Hajj pilgrimage that begins on Tuesday....
ReplyDeleteMaj. Gen. Mansour al-Turki says among those securing the massive crowds during Hajj are members of an elite counterterrorism unit, traffic police and emergency civil defense personnel. They are being supported by additional troops from the army and national guard.
The pilgrimage comes as Saudi Arabia faces an expansion of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group attacks that have killed dozens of people this year.
Al-Turki vowed in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press on Saturday that militants “cannot control a centimeter anywhere in Saudi Arabia.”
The Hajj is expected to draw up to 3 million people from around the world this year to Makkah.
AP
alarabiya.net