Mecca’s holy hell
100+ dead as crane falls on mosque amid storm
A towering construction crane collapsed during a lightning storm in Mecca Friday, crashing into the Muslim holy city’s Grand Mosque and killing at least 107 people.
Videos and photos online showed a grisly scene, with police and other people aiding scores of bloodied victims on the polished mosque floors.
The death toll was expected to climb, with authorities saying 238 others were injured.
The weather likely caused the collapse, as heavy rain, lightning and high winds lashed the Saudi city 10 days before the start of the annual hajj pilgrimage, they said.
A photo posted online by Saudi Arabia’s civil defense authority showed police and workers in hard hats inspecting a pile of collapsed concrete slabs in the sprawling, ornate mosque.
AlJazeera broadcast footage showed the floor strewn with rubble and what appeared to be pools of blood.
A video on Twitter appeared to capture the moment of the crane’s collapse with a boom, screams and confusion.
Several cranes had been erected at the site as part of a mosque expansion and other construction that has transformed the area.
Steep hills and traditional lowrise buildings that had surrounded the mosque have in recent years been replaced by shopping malls and luxury hotels — among them the world’s thirdtallest building.
The construction giant Saudi Binladin Group — owned by the family of Osama bin Laden — is leading the mosque expansion.
It wasn’t clear whether the company owned the crane that fell.
The bin Laden family has been close to the ruling Saud family for decades and oversees major building projects around the country.
The family disowned the al Qaeda leader in the 1990s.
The mosque and the cubeshaped Kaaba building within it draw Muslims from across the globe throughout the year, but the numbers spike ahead of the hajj.
It is considered a duty of all ablebodied adult Muslims to make the pilgrimage at least once.