IN,
11 September, 2015... 107 killed in crane
collapse at Mecca's Grand Mosque
By : Mohamed Adel
FOX EGYPT NEWS
A
powerful storm caused a crane to topple Friday afternoon at one of Islam's most
important mosques -- the Masjid al-Haram, or Grand Mosque in Mecca -- killing
at least 107 people and injuring 238 others,
Saudi Arabia's civil defense authorities said Friday on Twitter.
The
crane fell 10 days before the start of the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage expected
to bring 2 million people to Mecca. The Masjid al-Haram surrounds Islam's
holiest site, the Kaaba -- a shrine that worshippers circle.
A
strong thunderstorm developed over Mecca at about 4 p.m. local time Friday (9
a.m. ET), bringing gusty winds that shifted direction and caused the local
temperature to drop from 42 to 25 degrees Celsius (107.6 to 77 degrees
Fahrenheit), CNN meteorologists reported. The crane fell at 5:23 p.m. local
time, Saudi Civil Defense Director Suleiman al-Amro said on state TV.
"We
just washed and were getting ready to head to the Masjid al-Haram for the
Maghrib prayer (sunset prayer)," he said. "It was sandstorm which
turned to rainstorm and lot of the construction covering boards were flying
around, and lots of cracking noises which unfortunately ended with this
tragedy. ... Everybody were pushing trying to escape from inside towards the
exits."
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