Saudi officials said a number of emergency vehicles and personnel are on the scene.
The Sacred Mosque, Islam’s holiest site, is especially crowded during this time of the year as pilgrims begin arriving for the Hajj season.
Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz had launched five new expansion projects at the mosque in July.
www.aa.com.tr
11/9/15
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At least 65 people were killed when a crane crashed in Mecca's Grand Mosque Friday, Saudi Arabia's Civil Defense authority said, in an accident that came just weeks before Islam's annual haj pilgrimage...
ReplyDeleteThe civil defense said on its Twitter account 154 people were also injured in the accident. Al Arabiya television earlier said the crane had fallen because of strong storms - western Saudi Arabia has been hit by strong sand storms in the last few days.
Pictures circulating on social media showed pilgrims in bloodied robes and masses of debris from a part of the crane that seemed to have crashed through a ceiling.
Saudi authorities go to great lengths to prepare for the millions of Muslim who converge on Mecca to perform the sacred pilgrimage. Last year, it reduced the numbers permitted to perform haj for safety reasons because of construction work to enlarge the Grand Mosque.
The pilgrimage, one of the largest religious gatherings in the world, has been prone to disasters in the past, mainly from stampedes as pilgrims rushed to complete rituals and return home. Hundreds of pilgrims died in such a stampede in 2006.
Saudi authorities have since lavished vast sums to expand the main haj sites and improve Mecca's transportation system, in an effort to prevent more disasters.............REUTERS
Arabie: 65 morts dans la chute d'une grue dans la Grande mosquée de La Mecque ...
ReplyDeleteAu moins 65 personnes ont été tuées et 80 blessées vendredi lorsqu'une grue s'est effondrée sur la Grande mosquée de La Mecque, dans l'ouest de l'Arabie saoudite, à une dizaine de jours du début du pèlerinage, a indiqué la défense civile. Un énorme projet est actuellement en cours pour agrandir la superficie de la mosquée de 400.000 mètres carrés, ce qui permettrait d'accueillir jusqu'à 2,2 millions de personnes à la fois. L'édifice est ainsi entouré de plusieurs grues utilisées pour exécuter ces travaux.
Peu de détails étaient disponibles dans l'immédiat sur les circonstances de l'accident mais des photos circulaient sur les réseaux sociaux montrant des corps ensanglantés gisant dans une cour de la mosquée où une partie de la grue semble avoir chuté.
De fortes pluies frappaient La Mecque lorsque l'incident a eu lieu.
La Grande mosquée est généralement bondée le vendredi, jour hebdomadaire de repos et de prières chez les musulmans.
Cet accident intervient alors que l'Arabie saoudite s'apprête à accueillir des centaines de milliers de pèlerins pour le hajj, l'un des cinq piliers de l'islam que tout fidèle est censé accomplir au moins une fois dans sa vie s'il en a les moyens.
rtbf.be
Mecca crane collapse: 107 dead at Saudi Arabia's Grand Mosque...
ReplyDeleteAt least 107 people died and more than 230 people were injured when a crane collapsed in the Muslim holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
The huge red crane crashed into a part of the Grand Mosque - the largest in the world - that was filled with worshippers at the time.
The head of Saudi Arabia's civil defence said strong winds and heavy rains had caused the collapse.
Mecca is currently preparing for the annual Muslim Hajj pilgrimage.
Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to arrive in the Saudi city from all over the world later this month......BBC