Thursday, June 11, 2026
ADVT 
National

Over 65 Killed As Crane Falls On Mecca's Grand Mosque

Darpan News Desk IANS, 11 Sep, 2015 10:38 AM
    Over 65 people were killed after a crane collapsed on to the Grand Mosque in the Saudi Arabia's holy city of Makkah, which is preparing for the Annual Haj.
     
    At least 65 people have been killed and at least 30 injured, reported the BBC, citing the Saudi civil defence authority.
     
     
     
     
    It was raining heavily at the time. Few other details are available. Images from the scene showed part of a huge red crane had crashed through the roof of the mosque.Mecca is preparing for the annual Muslim Hajj pilgrimage.
     
    Construction work has been going on at the Grand Mosque for years to make it big enough to cope with the huge numbers of people who come each year.
     
     
    The incident occurred as hundreds of thousands of Muslims gather from all over the world for the annual hajj pilgrimage set to begin later this month, and Saudi authorities go to great lengths to be prepared for the millions of Muslims who converge on Makkah.
     
    The Grand Mosque is usually at its most crowded on Fridays, the Muslim weekly day of prayer.
     
     
     
     
    Last year, the kingdom reduced the numbers permitted to perform haj for safety reasons because of construction work to enlarge the Grand Mosque.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    B.C. Government Approves Construction Projects For $9-Billion Site C Hydro Dam

    B.C. Government Approves Construction Projects For $9-Billion Site C Hydro Dam
    FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — The British Columbia government has granted approval for the first phase of construction to start on the massive Site C hydroelectric dam project on the Peace River.

    B.C. Government Approves Construction Projects For $9-Billion Site C Hydro Dam

    Quebec To Go To Court To Challenge National Securities Regulator

    Quebec To Go To Court To Challenge National Securities Regulator
    QUEBEC — The Quebec government says it will ask the province's top court to rule on the constitutionality of Ottawa's plan to create a national securities regulator.

    Quebec To Go To Court To Challenge National Securities Regulator

    Kitimat's Cleaner, More Productive Smelter Pours First Aluminum

    Kitimat's Cleaner, More Productive Smelter Pours First Aluminum
    KITIMAT, B.C. — A ceremonial first pour of molten metal at Rio Tinto Alcan's aluminum plant Tuesday marked the completion of a multibillion-dollar modernization project in the northern British Columbia community of Kitimat.

    Kitimat's Cleaner, More Productive Smelter Pours First Aluminum

    B.C. Plane Crash Sends One To Hospital, Closes Highway 97 In Southern Okanagan

    B.C. Plane Crash Sends One To Hospital, Closes Highway 97 In Southern Okanagan
    Spokesman Bill Yearwood says the plane ended up on Highway 97 near Osoyoos on Tuesday evening and its only occupant escaped before flames engulfed the aircraft.

    B.C. Plane Crash Sends One To Hospital, Closes Highway 97 In Southern Okanagan

    Body Of Australian Tourist Found In Industrial Area Outside Whistler

    Body Of Australian Tourist Found In Industrial Area Outside Whistler
    A spokeswoman for the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says 19-year-old Jake Kermond had been staying in the resort town since March.

    Body Of Australian Tourist Found In Industrial Area Outside Whistler

    When Is A Taxi Not A Taxi? A Drunk Abbotsford Driver Learns The Hard Way

    When Is A Taxi Not A Taxi? A Drunk Abbotsford Driver Learns The Hard Way
    ABBOTSFORD, B.C. — A drunk driver in Abbotsford, B.C., is getting no sympathy for a belated decision to pocket his car keys and grab a cab.

    When Is A Taxi Not A Taxi? A Drunk Abbotsford Driver Learns The Hard Way