Live
Audio Only
At least 62 people were killed when a construction crane came crashing through the roof of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on Friday.
The crane reportedly fell during heavy winds, while the Grand Mosque was packed with worshipers.
Photos were circulated on social media of injured worshipers, and the interior of the mosque in ruins.
Saudi Arabia’s civil defense ministry has stated emergency services are aiding the roughly 80 people injured in the collapse. The local government has already ordered an investigation.
The incident comes ahead of the annual Hajj pilgrimage, which draws millions of Muslims from across the world every year. Numbers were slightly lower last year, when Saudi authorities reduced the number of pilgrams permitted to perform Hajj due to construction work at the Grand Mosque. The renovations began in 2007, and aren’t expected to be completed until 2020. Once the renovations are finished the mosque is expected to have a full capacity of 2 million people.
The Grand Mosque of Mecca is the largest mosque in the world, and is built around Islam’s holiest site, the Kaaba.
RELATED: Vistas: Mecca
Newsletter
