Severe rain contributed to crane collapse in Mecca - VIDEO

  12 September 2015    Read: 1060
Severe rain contributed to crane collapse in Mecca - VIDEO
The Saudi Civil Defence agency says severe rain contributed to the collapse of a crane which killed at least 87 people in the Muslim holy city of Mecca.
Authorities in Saudi Arabia say over 180 people were injured when a huge red crane crashed through the roof of the Grand Mosque. Media reports suggest the figure could be as high as 200.

The mosque was crowded at the time.



Mecca is preparing to host hundreds of thousands of people for the annual Hajj pilgrimage. In 2014, Saudi authorities began a major expansion of the site.

As such the area of the Grand Mosque will be increased by 400,000 square metres in order to accomodate 2.2 million people at a time.

Islam asks every follower who is capable to perform a pilgrimage to the site at least once in their life.

Over the years, several tragedies have occurred due to the sheer number of people making the trip.


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