Crane is part of massive project to increase the area of the mosque to

Authorities issued extreme weather warnings and earlier photos capture mosque being struck by lightning


A Saudi official has confirmed that the annual hajj to Mecca will go ahead, despite the horrific crane disaster that killed 107 people and wounded 238 in the city yesterday.

The tragedy occurred when a crane crashed through the ceiling of the Grand Mosque of Mecca, the largest mosque in the world, amid high winds and thunderstorms on Friday afternoon.

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

Some critics have claimed that the authorities were negligent in allowing a series of cranes to tower over the site, as hundreds of thousands of Muslims converge at the holy site for the annual hajj pilgrimage.

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Thunderstorms: A picture captures the moment the fatal crane was struck by lightning prior to collapsing into the mosque, killing dozens

In shock: Muslim pilgrims walk around around the Kaaba, the cubic building at the Grand Mosque in the Muslim holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, early this morning just hours after the horrific crane accident

It has been confirmed today that this year's hajj will still go ahead despite the disaster, and is expected to begin on September 21.

The annual pilgrimage is one of the largest religious festivals in the world, and last year drew two million worshipers.

One of the five pillars of Islam requires every able-bodied Muslim to perform the Hajj pilgrimage at least once in their lifetime.

Muslim faithful from about 160 countries converge on the Islamic city and other locations in western Saudi Arabia to complete the holy journey.

A Saudi official, who declined to be named, said: 'It definitely will not affect the hajj this season and the affected part will probably be fixed in a few days.'

The giant Saudi Arabian mosque was full of people preparing for the 6.30pm Friday evening prayer session, which is one of the busiest times of the week, when the crane toppled in the heavy rain.

Dramatic footage shows the moment the crane struck the building, with another video capturing the chaos and confusion inside as people ran for shelter from the devastating impact.

Photos posted on social media sees the polished tiled floor of the mosque covered in rubble, bodies and pools of blood, and people fleeing the area bleeding and covered in soot.

Looking to the future: It has been confirmed today that this year's annual hajj pilgrimage will go ahead, despite the tragic deaths of 107 people last night

Gaping hole: The collapsed crane has caused a huge crater in the floor of the Great Mosque, which was undergoing an expansion

The crane fell into the east side of the mosque, with its boom crashing through the roof, killing at least 107 people - with nine Indian citizens, 16 Pakistanis and 15 Iranians reportedly among the dead.

It is not yet known whether all those that died were killed by the crane's collapse, as some reports claim some were killed in a subsequent stampede.

The governor of Mecca region, Prince Khaled al-Faisal, was seen talking with police at the mosque a few hours after the tragedy.

Irfan al-Alawi, co-founder of the Mecca-based Islamic Heritage Research Foundation, compared the carnage to that caused by a bomb.

He suggested authorities were negligent by having a series of cranes overlooking the mosque.

'They do not care about the heritage, and they do not care about health and safety,' he said.

Alawi is an outspoken critic of redevelopment at the holy sites, which he says is wiping away tangible links to the Prophet Mohammed.

Online activists created a hashtag on Twitter last night urging Mecca residents to donate blood at hospitals in the area, and queues of locals hoping to help the effort formed at hospitals and medical centres across the city.

HOW THE BIN LADEN'S BUILT SAUDI ARABIA The Bin Laden family is responsible for a huge amount of major building contracts in Saudi Arabia, through Binladen Group. The sprawling construction conglomerate was founded by Osama Bin Laden's father Mohammed and exerts huge influence over the kingdom. The family firm is heading the £14bn expansion of the Great Mosque, where disaster struck yesterday with tragic consequences. Other projects include building stations for the Haramain High-Speed rail link, and construction work at the world's tallest building, Kingdom Tower, in Jeddah. Advertisement

The crane belongs to a German crane company operated by the Bin Laden family's consortium, who are heading the expansion of the Holy Mosque.

Saudi BinLaden Group was founded by Osama's Bin Laden's billionaire father Mohammed and the sprawling construction conglomerate runs a large amount of major building contracts in the Sunni kingdom.

A massive £14billion project is currently underway to increase the area of the mosque by 4.3million sq ft - so that it can accommodate up to 2.2 million people at once.

Pictures taken before the disaster show the crane being struck by a bolt of lightning and authorities are in little doubt extreme weather was to blame.

Earlier, the Civil Defence had issued thunderstorm, heavy rain and wind warnings in the area.

Following the collapse, hundreds of rescue medical workers rushed to the scene and were pictured stretchering bodies away, while many walking wounded stumbled out of the building.

'All those who were wounded and the dead have been taken to hospital. There are no casualties left at the location,' General Suleiman al-Amr, director general of the Civil Defence Authority, told al-Ikhbariya television.

The general disputed reports that a bolt of lightning hit the crane just moments before it fell, and reports that some of those who died were killed in a following stampede.

Strong wind and rains had uprooted trees and rocked cranes in the area, he said.

The Prime Minister has offered his 'thoughts and prayers' to the families of those killed.

Tweeting from his Number 10 office account: 'My thoughts and prayers are with those who have lost loved ones at Mecca today.'

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said: 'I'm shocked and saddened to hear of the accident in Mecca involving a large number of fatalities amongst those attending the Hajj. My thoughts are with the families of those affected.'

Disaster: The Grand Mosque is usually at its most crowded on Fridays, the Muslim weekly day of prayer. Pictured, the crane in the early hours of this morning

Heavy death toll: At least 107 people were killed and more than 230 were injured in Friday's accident in Saudi Arabia's holy city

The Grand Mosque, or Great Mosque of Mecca, surrounds Islam's holiest place, the Kaaba, in the city of Mecca.

A spokesperson for the administration of the mosques in Mecca and Medina said the crane collapsed onto the part of the Grand Mosque where worshippers circle the Kaaba - the black-covered cube towards which Muslims direct their prayers.

The mosque is usually at its most crowded on Fridays as it is the Muslim weekly day of prayer, when Muslims face in the direction of the Kaaba while performing their obligatory daily prayers.

Abdel Aziz Naqoor, who said he works at the mosque, told AFP he saw the massive construction crane fall after being hit by the storm.

'If it weren't for Al-Tawaf bridge the injuries and deaths would have been worse,' he said, referring to a covered walkway that surrounds the holy Kaaba, which broke the crane's fall.

The hajj pilgrimage has been prone to disasters in the past, mainly from stampedes as pilgrims rushed to complete rituals and return home. Hundreds of pilgrims died in such a stampede in 2006.

Saudi authorities have since lavished vast sums to expand the main haj sites and improve Mecca's transportation system, in an effort to prevent more disasters.

Struck before evening prayers: Pictures emerging on social media show the scale of casualties with bodies strewn across the mosque floor

Trail of blood: A man soaked in blood sits on a stool in the mosque waiting for emergency workers to treat him

Horror: Rescue workers, locals and pilgrims who have journeyed to Mecca watch in horror as victims of the crane accident are laid out

Security services often ring Islam's sacred city with checkpoints and other measures to prevent people arriving for the pilgrimage without authorization.

Those procedures, aimed at reducing crowd pressure which can lead to stampedes, fires and other hazards, have been intensified in recent years as security threats grow throughout the Middle East.

Last year, the kingdom reduced the numbers permitted to perform haj for safety reasons because of construction work to enlarge the Grand Mosque.

Al Jazeera's Hasan Patel, reporting from Mecca, said witnesses told him that a crane fell on the third floor of the Grand Mosque around 5.45pm.

PREVIOUS MECCA TRAGEDIES 1987: 402 people killed and almost 650 wounded in clashes between Iranian pilgrims and Saudi authorites 1989: Two bombs kill one pilgrim and injure 16 others. 1990: 1,426 pilgrims killed in a stampede in an overcrowded pedestrian tunnel 1994: 270 pilgrims killed during a stampede at a stoning ritual 1997: More than 340 people killed and 1,500 injured when fire rips through a tented city 1998: 180 pilgrims trampled to death after several people fell off an overpass 2001: 35 people killed in a stampede 2004: Approximately 250 people were killed during a stampede at a stoning ceremony 2006: At least 350 pilgrims killed following a stampede at a stoning ceremony Advertisement

The correspondent said the mosque was packed, even though the incident happened shortly before the 6.30pm prayer.

'Dozens of ambulances are heading to the site. The authorities closed off the area shortly afterwards,' he said.

'This whole place is already a construction site. What made it worse is that around 5.30pm there was severe rain and it's just gushing down the road,' he said.

'I am surrounded by people who are grieving. The mood here is of sadness.'

Al Jazeera's Omar Al Saleh said bad weather was thought to be the cause of the accident - western Saudi Arabia has been hit by strong sand storms in the last few days.

Khaled Al-Maeena, editor at large at the Saudi Gazette in Jeddah, said the incident happened during a strong thunderstorm.

'The scene is of shock ... and people are wondering what happened,' he said.

'Many of the (Hajj pilgrims) go to Medina first. If this was one or two days before the actual Hajj ... I would have expected that the death toll and the injured and the casualties would have been much higher,' Al Maeena said.

Many high-profile figures took to Twitter to offer their condolences to grieving families.

Imran Khan wrote: 'Saddened to learn of the death of pilgrims as a result of the crane accident in Haram Sharif.Condolences & prayers go to families of victims.'

And the President of India Pranab Mukherjee posted: 'Heartfelt condolences to families of deceased due to crane crash in Mecca, prayers for speedy recovery of the injured.'

Several cranes surround the mosque to support the ongoing expansion and other construction work that has transformed the area around the sanctuary.

Steep hills and low-rise traditional buildings that once surrounded the mosque have in recent years given way to shopping malls and luxury hotels - among them the world's third-tallest building.

The mosque stands at 3.84 million square feet and can hold up to 820,000 worshippers, but this latest renovation will increase it to 4.3 million square feet, allowing it to accommodate up to 2.2 million at a time.

Bloodied: Two men try to stem the flow of blood after being caught up in the crane collapse at Mecca yesterday

Moment of impact: Video footage captured the moment the crane toppled over crashing into the mosque, where thousands were praying

The crane fell into the east side of the mosque, with the top section of the structure crashing through the roof an on to the third floor

Vast construction work: A view of Mecca shows hundreds of cranes operating on building sites sprawled across the holy city

Call for support: Online activists created a hashtag on Twitter urging Mecca residents to donate blood at hospitals in the area

Wreaked havoc: The giant falling structure caused immense damage to the mosque as well as claiming at least 107 lives

Aftermath: Paramedics, soldiers and civilians pictured in the mosque following the devastating collapse of a crane

View from the outside: The toppled crane leans on the Mosque, with the top section of the vehicle having crashed through the ceiling

Fighting for his life: An injures man lies out on a makeshift stretcher, covered in blankets, while others hold his drip

Hundreds injured: Men and women covered in bandages are pushed in wheelchairs towards ambulances

Expansion: The mosque stands at 3.84 million square feet and can hold up to 820,000 worshippers, but this latest renovation will increase it to 4.3 million square feet, allowing it to accommodate up to 2.2 million at a time

Scenes of devastation: Victims of the crane collapse are carried on stretchers or pushed on wheelchairs as the rain continues to lash down

Walking wounded: A man stands in shock, his clothes stained with blood, while a worse off victim is stretchered into an ambulance

The area inside the mosque where the crane crashed through the ceiling is cordoned off by workers

Holy site: The Great Mosque houses the Kaaba - the massive cube-shaped structure towards which Muslims worldwide pray

Weather warnings: Before Friday's accident, the country's Civil Defense had issued thunderstorm, heavy rain and wind warnings in the area

Devastation: The fallen crane lies on its side, leaning on the Grand Mosque as witnesses gather in the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia

Largest mosque in the world: Last year, the kingdom reduced the numbers permitted to perform haj for safety reasons because of construction work to enlarge the Grand Mosque

Desperate bid to save lives: Ambulances gather in the square outside the Grand Mosque as hundreds of injured of people are carried out

Rush to help: Bodies of victims lie on the ground while injured people are attended to by emergency services

Concerned crowds: A injured man wrapped into a waterproof lies on the ground amid chaotic scenes in Mecca this evenings

Confusion and anguish: People stand in disbelief and crowd around emergency workers as loved ones are treated

Emergency response: The Saudi Civil Defense says search and rescue teams and medical workers from the Saudi Red Crescent are at the scene

Dozens killed: At least 154 people have been injured in the disaster and at least 65 people are dead

Smashed floor: A huge crater is visible in the polished tiles of the Great Mosque where part of the crane struck

Disaster: Saudi emergency teams gather at the site of accident in the Grand Mosque of Saudi Arabia's holy Muslim city of Mecca

Probe: Saudi governor of Mecca region Khaled al-Faisal (centre right) inspects the site of a crane that crashed onto the Grand Mosque