A towering construction crane collapsed on Friday during a violent storm n Saudi Arabia's Mecca -Is am's holiest site -crashing onto the Grand Mosque and killing at least 87 people ahead of the start of the annual Haj later this month.
At least nine Indians were among 184 people injured, the external affairs ministry said n New Delhi.
“Our consulate in Jeddah s monitoring the situation ollowing the tragic accident,“ MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted. He said senior Indian officers, includ ng the consul general, are in Mecca and Indian doctors deployed in all government hos pitals in Saudi Arabia were trying to glean more informa tion.
Videos and photos posted on social media showed a grisly scene, with cops and onlookers attending to bloodied bodies on the mosque floor. A video captured the moment of the crane's collapse -a loud boom, screams and confusion. Several cranes surround the mosque to support an 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 Grand Mosque and the cube-shaped Kaaba within it draw Muslims of all types from around the world throughout the year, though numbers ncrease significantly in the run-up to the Haj. Performing the pilgrimage once during one's lifetime is a duty for all able-bodied Muslims.
