Mecca’s Grand Mosque crane collapses, at least 107 dead, about 238 injured

According to USA Today, a huge construction crane buffeted by strong winds collapsed and crashed onto the Grand Mosque in Mecca on Friday, killing as many as 107 worshipers only days before the start of the annual Muslim pilgrimage, the Saudi Arabia Civil Defense reports.

The Civil Defense said on Twitter that as many as 238 people had been injured.

Photos sent by Twitter from the scene show numerous blood-covered bodies strewn on a marble floor under the arm of a large crane.

Ahmed bin Mohammed Al-Mansouri, spokesman for the Presidency of the Grand Mosque and the Prophet Mosque, blamed the accident on a “strong sandstorm, winds and torrential rains, Saudi Press Agency says.

The accident occurred as the kingdom prepared to welcome 3 million people to the Muslim holy city for the annual pilgrimage that begins Sept. 21. (USA Today, MSN News, Saudi Press Agency)