A massive construction crane crashed into Makkah’s Grand Mosque in stormy weather on Friday, killing at least 87 people and injuring 201 others, Saudi authorities said, less than a fortnight before the Hajj pilgrimage starts.The civil defence authority said on Twitter that emergency teams were sent to the scene after a “crane fell at the Grand Mosque.” That came about an hour after it tweeted that Makkah was “witnessing medium to heavy rains,” with pictures circulating on social media showing lightning. Authorities have not yet released an official account on what happened.Pictures of the incident on Twitter showed bloodied bodies strewn across a courtyard where the top part of the crane, which appeared to have bent or snapped, had crashed into the several storey-high structure. A video on YouTube showed people screaming and scurrying around right after a massive crash was heard and as fog engulfed the city. There are a series of cranes overlooking the mosque. Irfan al-Alawi, co-founder of the Makkah-based Islamic Heritage Research Foundation, compared the carnage to that caused by a bomb. He feels that the authorities are more concerned with constant expansion rather than preserving heritage, and this time it has cost lives. The Saudi government has come under constant criticism over erasing shrines and relics from Makkah over the past half century. Currently they are undertaking a massive project to expand the area of the mosque by 400,000 square metres, allowing it to accommodate up to 2.2 million people at once. As incomes have risen globally and air travel has made distances shorter, the number of people visiting the holy cities in Saudi Arabia from all parts of the world has increased tremendously. Numbers are especially high during Haj as well as the month of Ramazan. Around 800,000 people are currently in the kingdom for Haj — with more expected — while over two million pilgrims visited last year. To deal with this influx, Saudi authorities have launched a sweeping reconstruction drive to expand the capacity of the Grand Mosque. Yet some Saudi activists have pointed out that there has been negligence in the placement of the cranes around the mosque. Riyadh needs to scale down construction activity during high-volume periods like Haj to decrease the chance of accidents, along with reviewing safety protocols especially where machinery and other equipment are concerned. Moreover, until the construction work is completed, perhaps the Saudis should reconsider the number of pilgrims allowed in for Haj and ensure that it does not cross the limits set by safety considerations. The Hajj pilgrimage is now just 10 days away and the crane tragedy is a reminder of what can go wrong despite all precautions being taken when so many people come together.
pk.shafaqna.com
