albuluushiy
JF-Expert Member
- Oct 2, 2013
- 1,404
- 686
Taarifa zilizotufikia hivi punde zinasema watu 80 wamepoteza maisha baada ya winchi kuwaangukia Mahujaji katika Msikiti Mkuu wa Makka, Saudi Arabia.
Mamlaka ya nchi hiyo imethibitisha kutokea kwa tukio hilo, ingawa maelezo ya kina kuhusu majeruhi hayajatolewa ila inaelezwa zaidi ya watu 180 wamejeruhiwa, Ripoti zinasema kuwa upepo mkali ulioandamana na kimbunga ndio uliosababisha kuanguka kwa winchi hiyo.
========
At least 87 people have been killed and 183 others injured after a crane collapsed in Mecca's Grand Mosque on Friday, Saudi Arabia's civil defence authority says.
Al Jazeera's Hasan Patel, reporting from Mecca, said witnesses told him that a crane fell on the third floor of the Grand Mosque around 5.30pm.
Our correspondent said the mosque was packed, even though the incident happened before the 6.30pm prayer.
"Dozens of ambulances headed to the site. The authorities closed off the area shortly afterwards," he said.
"This whole place is already a giant construction site. What made it worse is that around 5.30pm there was severe rain and it's just gushing down the road," he said.
"I am surrounded by people who are grieving. The mood here is of sadness."
Major General Suleiman Al-Amro, the director-general of Saudi's civil defence authority, told Saudi TV that a storm with severe rain and wind speeds as high as 83kmh caused the tower crane to collapse.
"The crane collapsed near Al-Salam gate on the upper side of Al-Masaa area and that caused the collapse of a small part of Al-Masaa & another section of Al-Mataf , the bridge area around the Holy Kaaba," Amro said.
Pictures circulating on social media showed pilgrims in bloodied robes and masses of debris from a part of the crane that seemed to have crashed through a ceiling.
Al Jazeera's senior weather presenter Richard Angwin said the autumn period is when half of Mecca's thunderstorms occur so "it was no great surprise that there were thunderstorms in the area".
"The area of low pressure which brought sandstorms across the Levant region moved further south allowing hot, moist air to develop into thunderstorms along the mountains bordering the Red Sea, and some of those drifted northwards across Mecca," Angwin said.
Mecca is Islam's holiest site. Pilgrims from around the world have been converging on the city and the mosque for the annual Hajj pilgrimage, which starts on September 21.
Source: Al Jazeera and agencies
======================
Update
Up to now at least 107 people died and 238 more injured
Mamlaka ya nchi hiyo imethibitisha kutokea kwa tukio hilo, ingawa maelezo ya kina kuhusu majeruhi hayajatolewa ila inaelezwa zaidi ya watu 180 wamejeruhiwa, Ripoti zinasema kuwa upepo mkali ulioandamana na kimbunga ndio uliosababisha kuanguka kwa winchi hiyo.
========
At least 87 people have been killed and 183 others injured after a crane collapsed in Mecca's Grand Mosque on Friday, Saudi Arabia's civil defence authority says.
Al Jazeera's Hasan Patel, reporting from Mecca, said witnesses told him that a crane fell on the third floor of the Grand Mosque around 5.30pm.
Our correspondent said the mosque was packed, even though the incident happened before the 6.30pm prayer.
"Dozens of ambulances headed to the site. The authorities closed off the area shortly afterwards," he said.
"This whole place is already a giant construction site. What made it worse is that around 5.30pm there was severe rain and it's just gushing down the road," he said.
"I am surrounded by people who are grieving. The mood here is of sadness."
Major General Suleiman Al-Amro, the director-general of Saudi's civil defence authority, told Saudi TV that a storm with severe rain and wind speeds as high as 83kmh caused the tower crane to collapse.
"The crane collapsed near Al-Salam gate on the upper side of Al-Masaa area and that caused the collapse of a small part of Al-Masaa & another section of Al-Mataf , the bridge area around the Holy Kaaba," Amro said.
Pictures circulating on social media showed pilgrims in bloodied robes and masses of debris from a part of the crane that seemed to have crashed through a ceiling.
Al Jazeera's senior weather presenter Richard Angwin said the autumn period is when half of Mecca's thunderstorms occur so "it was no great surprise that there were thunderstorms in the area".
"The area of low pressure which brought sandstorms across the Levant region moved further south allowing hot, moist air to develop into thunderstorms along the mountains bordering the Red Sea, and some of those drifted northwards across Mecca," Angwin said.
Mecca is Islam's holiest site. Pilgrims from around the world have been converging on the city and the mosque for the annual Hajj pilgrimage, which starts on September 21.
Source: Al Jazeera and agencies
======================
Update
Up to now at least 107 people died and 238 more injured
Last edited by a moderator:
