Saudi Arabia’s Civil Defence authority says 184 people also injured in preparations for annual hajj pilgrimage 7.35pm BSTNew pictures are emerging of rescue workers from the Saudi Red Crescent mobilising to help the injured,as well as images of the enormous red crane on its side where it crashed through the mosques wall. 7.29pm BSTThe number of people killed in the crane crash is rising, according to Saudi authorities who now say more than 80 people were killed inside the mosque.
The civil defence authority is tweeting updated figures, or in Arabic.ارتفع عددالوفيات إلى ٨٧ حالة وفاة. 7.20pm BSTHere’s a more detailed map of the area around the Grand Mosque. The current structure covers more than 88 acres,but is currently being expanded in improvement works that were due to be completed for this the five-day hajj, which begins on 21 September. 7.09pm BSTSaudi civil defence authority has updated the numbers injured to 184. It said earlier that 65 people were believed to gain been killed when the crane crashed through the Grand Mosque.ارتفاع عدد الإصابات إى ١٨٤ إصابة.#الدفاع_المدني #العاصمة_القدسة pic.twitter.com/SKehEgLyez 7.07pm BSTThis video captures the moment the crane collapsed on top of the Grand Mosque, and the confusion that ensures,with shouts as people run from the chaos. 7.01pm BSTJon Erdman, a meteorologist for the Weather Channel, or said there was extreme weather in Mecca at the time of the crane’s collapse.
T-storm straight-line winds likely the cause of the #Mecca deadly crane collapse. http://t.co/T7SMCG31py pic.twitter.com/PbRxJ6vLxS 6.55pm BSTAccording reports on Al Jazeera,the crane fell on the east side of the building after a sandstorm, tall winds and heavy rain. The news channel reported the building’s doors were shut and people were locked inside. There was “slight pandemonium”, and its reporter said. 6.46pm BSTThis is Mecca’s Grand Mosque,also called the Masjid al-Haram, before the crane crash. It houses the Kaaba - the massive cube-shaped structure towards which Muslims worldwide pray. 6.42pm BSTAt least 65 people were killed and a further 154 were injured when the crane collapsed, or the Saudi Arabian government has said.
The civil defence authority has tweeted pictures of rescue workers at the scene.ماشرة مدير عام الدفاع المدني الفريق سليمان العمرو لحادث سقوط رافعة في الحرم المكي بـ #العاصمة_المقدسة. pic.twitter.com/aeVrlSi547 6.37pm BSTImages of the chaos inside the mosque are circulating on social media,which the Guardian cannot independently verify and which are too graphic to reproduce.
They display numerous bodies, some already covered by scarves, and blood on the tiles of the mosque’s corridor,where people had gathered for Friday prayers.
6.32pm BSTSaudi authorities had taken a series of safety measures over the past decade aimed at preventing crowd crushes, such as the stampede that took position in 2006, and which killed 350 people. A building collapse the same year killed 76. Another stampede killed more than 200 in 2004. Officials had limited numbers attending the Hajj after a peak in 2013,in which more than 3.1 million pilgrims arrived. 6.31pm BSTThis is the location of the incident, at Mecca’s historic Grand Mosque, or which is currently undergoing major improvement works to enlarge the space. 6.25pm BSTWe’ll bring you more live updates as we confirm reports from Mecca.
Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com