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Mecca crane collapse: 65 dead in Saudi Arabia | Mecca crane collapse: 65 dead in Saudi Arabia |
(35 minutes later) | |
At least 65 people have died after a crane collapsed on the Grand Mosque in the Muslim holy city of Mecca, the Saudi Arabian government has said. | |
More than 150 people were injured in the accident, the country's civil defence authority said on Twitter. | |
It is not known what caused the accident, but images from the scene showed part of a huge red crane had crashed through the mosque's roof. | |
Mecca is currently preparing for the annual Muslim Hajj pilgrimage. | |
Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to arrive in the Saudi city from all over the world later this month. | Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to arrive in the Saudi city from all over the world later this month. |
Saudi authorities began a major expansion of the site last year to cope with ever-growing numbers of worshippers. | |
The crane that collapsed on Friday was part of the construction work taking place at the site. | |
Reports suggested the crane fell during high winds. The Arabian peninsula has been has been hit by strong sand storms over the past week. | |
The mosque is Islam's most sacred site and the destination for millions of Muslims undertaking the Hajj pilgrimage every year. | |
At the heart of the mosque, the oldest parts of which date to the 16th century, is the Kaaba, a black cube-shaped building which Muslims all over the world face when they pray. | |
Islam requires that every Muslim capable of doing so performs a pilgrimage to the site at least once in their lifetime. Once at the mosque, pilgrims perform Tawaf - walking seven times around the Kaaba in a counter-clockwise direction. | |
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