One Indonesian confirmed dead, 20 injured in Mecca tragedy

JAKARTA, Indonesia (UPDATED)—At least one Indonesian is confirmed dead, while 20 other Indonesians are injured after a crane crashed into the Grand Mosque of Saudi Arabia’s holy Muslim city of Mecca on Friday, September 11.

This, according to the Minister of Religious Affairs Lukman Saifuddin. Saifuddin told Rappler that the ministry has yet to identify the victims’ names, but they are currently at Aiyad and An-Nur hospital in Saudi Arabia.

The death toll is now at 107 while the injured are numbered at 238.

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 building which is several storeys high.

A video on YouTube showed people screaming and rushing around right after a massive crash was heard and as fog engulfed the city.

The incident occurred as hundreds of thousands of Muslims from all over the world gather for the annual hajj pilgrimage expected to begin on September 21. 

The Grand Mosque is usually at its most crowded on Fridays, the Muslim weekly day of prayer.

Many faithful would have been gathered there ahead of evening maghrib prayers, which occurred about an hour after the tragedy. – with reports from Agence France-Presse