Mecca crane collapse ‘act of God’ says engineer

The collapse of a construction crane that killed 107
people at Mecca's Grand Mosque was "an act of God"
and not due to a technical fault, an engineer for the
developer said Saturday.

The massive red and white crane, which crashed into
the court of the mosque during a rainstorm and high
winds Friday, also injured around 200 people.

The engineer for Saudi Binladin Group, which is
carrying out a massive expansion of the mosque, told
AFP the crane, like many others on the project, had
been there for three or four years without any
problem.

"It was not a technical issue at all," said the engineer,
who asked not to be identified.

"I can only say that what happened was beyond the
power of humans. It was an act of God and, to my
knowledge, there was no human fault in it at all."

Authorities are investigating the tragedy, which
occurred as hundreds of thousands of Muslims from
around the world were gathering for the annual hajj
pilgrimage.

The engineer said the crane was the main one used
on work to expand the tawaf, or circumambulation
area around the Kaaba — a massive cubed structure
at the centre of the mosque that is a focal point of
worship.

"It has been installed in a way so as not to affect the
hundreds of thousands of worshippers in the area
and in an extremely professional way," he said.

"This is the most difficult place to work in, due to the
huge numbers of people in the area."

The crane's heavy hook, which is able to lift hundreds
of tonnes, began swaying and moved the whole crane
with it, toppling into the mosque, the engineer
explained.

A witness said the accident occurred during winds
which were so strong they shook his car and tossed
billboards around.

The development project is expanding the area of the
Grand Mosque by 400,000 square metres (4.3 million
square feet), allowing it to accommodate up to 2.2
million people at once.
Saudi Binladin Group belongs to the family of the late
al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.


AbleMoJah® Nigeria.