At least 107 people (click here) have been killed after a crane toppled over at Mecca's Grand Mosque, less than two weeks before Islam's annual Hajj pilgrimage.
In addition to the deaths, 238 people were wounded in Friday's disaster, according to Saudi Arabia's Civil Defence Authority.
The Saudi Press Agency quoted a spokesperson for the two holy mosques as saying that the crane was brought down by strong wind and heavy rain.
Pictures circulating on social media showed pilgrims in bloodied robes and debris from a part of the crane that appeared to have crashed through a ceiling....
...Official statement
A statement by a spokesperson for the administration of the mosques in Mecca and Medina said the crane toppled in the part of the Grand Mosque where worshippers circle the Kaaba - the black-clad cube towards which the world's 1.6 billion Muslims face to pray.
Al Jazeera's Hasan Patel, reporting from Mecca, said witnesses told him that the crane fell on the third floor of the Grand Mosque at around 5.30pm on Friday....
