87 killed by falling crane at Grand Mosque in Mecca

Reuters/Dubai

At least 87 people were killed when a crane toppled over at Mecca's Grand Mosque on Friday, Saudi Arabia's Civil Defence head said, less than two weeks before annual Haj pilgrimage.

General Suleiman al-Amr, director general of the Civil Defence Authority, told al-Ikhbariya television 183 people were injured.

"All those who were wounded and the dead have been taken to hospital. There are no casualties left at the location," he added. Strong wind and rains had uprooted trees and affected cranes in the area, he 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.

Pictures circulating on social media showed pilgrims in bloodied robes and debris from a part of the crane that appeared to have crashed through a ceiling.

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.

Saudi authorities have spent vast sums to expand the main Haj sites and improve Mecca's transport system, in an effort to prevent disasters.

Security services often ring the sacred city with checkpoints and other measures to prevent people arriving for the pilgrimage without authorisation.