Engineer says Mecca crane collapse ‘act of god’

Saudi authorities are investigating the accident but have pledged that the annual Hajj pilgrimage will go ahead as planned.

The Saudi civil defence agency said on Twitter that emergency teams were sent to the scene after a “crane fell at the Grand Mosque”, one of Islam’s most revered sites.

At least 107 people died when the crane toppled into a courtyard of the mosque during extremely high winds on Friday.

He said that the government has set up a control room in Saudi Arabai to obtain information about the crane crash and updates about the injured persons.

Saudi King, Salman bin Abdulaziz, visits an injured pilgrim at a hospital in Mecca, Saudi Arabia … on Saturday.

Al-Amr said “many of the 238 people injured in the accident were only lightly wounded”.

The huge red crane crashed into a part of the Grand Mosque as it was filled with worshippers, less than two weeks before the annual Hajj pilgrimage.

“If it weren’t for Al Tawaf bridge the injuries and deaths would have been worse”, he said.

Officials on Saturday reported that Masnauli Hasibuan, who left for Mecca from Medan, North Sumatra, and Siti Rasmi Darmini, from Karawang, West Java, died in the incident. Immediately after the occurrence of the accident in Islam’s holiest shrine Mecca mosque an investigation was ordered by the Mecca’s governor Prince Khaled al-Faisal.

An investigation has been launched to probe claims that the health and safety standards at the mosque were insufficient.

The contractor has been directed to ensure the safety of all other cranes at the site, it added.

The Grand Mosque and the cube-shaped Kaaba within it draw Muslims of all types from around the world throughout the year, though numbers increase significantly in the run-up to the hajj. Saudi officials place guards at the entrance to the city to restrict access to those who have received authorization to enter.

The mosque, the largest in the world, has been under construction since past year in order to expand its current capacity and accommodate a total of 2.2 million people.