Death toll from crane collapse in Mecca rises to 107

Saudi Arabian authorities have announced that death toll from a huge construction crane collapsing at Masjid al-Haram on Friday due to a powerful storm has risen to 107, while the number of people injured has risen to 238 people.

Saudi Gazette quoted spokesperson for the two holy mosques Ahmed al-Mansoori said that the crane collapsed on top of pilgrims circumambulating around the Kaaba and walking between the two hills Safa and Marwa at 5:10 pm local time.

“The number of people who died in this incident has risen to 107. 238 people have been injured,” said al-Mansoor.

Saudi Civil Defense Authority has said that the rise in death toll was due to many of those injured passing away.

The nationalities of those who have died have not been officially released by any Saudi government authority. However, Saudi Gazette spoke to consul generals from Bangladesh, India and Pakistan and said that no pilgrims from those three countries were among the dead, but that some had sustained injuries. As such, 15 pilgrims from Pakistan, 10 pilgrims from India and 25 pilgrims from Bangladesh had sustained injuries and were being treated at hospitals in Mecca.

Meanwhile, Maldivian government authorities have said that no Maldivian pilgrim sustained any injuries in the incident.

This sad incident took place at a time when thousands of Muslims from all around the world gathered at Mecca to take part in Hajj. Governor of Mecca province Prince Khalid al-Faisal has called for an investigation into the incident.

Saudi Civil Defense Authority Director General Sulaiman al-Amir al-Ikhbar spoke on TV about how trees were pulled out of their roots during the powerful storm that also resulted in the huge construction crane collapsing.

The incident occurred as Saudi government drew close to completing the biggest project they have undertaken to increase capacity of Masjid al-Haram. 400,000 square meters of space will be increased inside the mosque once the project is complete – increasing the capacity to 2.2 million people at any one time.

Those in charge of the project – Bin Laden Group – said that the incident occurred after they had completed their work at the holy mosque last Thursday.