Crane Collapses Again in Grand Mosque in Saudi Arabia’s Mecca (+Photos)
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A mobile crane lever fell inside the Grand Mosque in Saudi Arabia’ Mecca on Sunday nearly three years after a similar incident killed 111 people, including 11 Iranians, and injured hundreds of others.
The crane driver was slightly injured in the Sunday crash after the arm of the small crane collapsed in a construction site in the Grand Mosque, also known as the Masjid al-Haram, according to Saudi media reports.
The Saudi authorities stressed that the lever fell in a working area and not a prayer place or a path for pilgrims.
On September 11, 2015, a large construction crane toppled over during a violent rainstorm in Mecca and crashed into the Grand Mosque, killing 111 pilgrims and wounding 394 others.
In the tragic incident in that year, 11 Iranian nationals lost their lives and 32 others were injured.
About two weeks after the crane crash, a fatal human crush occurred during Hajj rituals in Mina, near Mecca. Unofficial sources put the death toll at almost 7,000 people. Iran said 465 of its nationals lost their lives in the incident.
Days into the crush, Riyadh gave a death toll of 770, and has so far obstinately refrained from updating that figure despite the fact that figures produced by independent sources strongly contradict Saudi Arabia's estimate.
Observers say the kingdom fears that releasing the real figure will be a clear sign of its catastrophic mismanagement of Hajj rituals.
In September 2016, Iran's Police Chief Brigadier General Hossein Ashtari said the country has filed a complaint against Saudi Arabia with the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) over the deadly Mina crush.
