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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
World
David Trayner

Mecca crane collapse that killed at least 107 caught on video

The footage shows the crane blowing over in the fierce gust (Youtube) (Youtube)

Amateur footage has emerged showing the moment a huge crane was blown through the roof of Mecca's Grand Mosque, killing 107 and injuring more than 230.

The footage, posted on social media, shows the massive red and white crane buffed by winds in a violent rainstorm.

The crane leans and then falls steadily - as if in slow motion - onto the third floor roof of the the Masjid al-Haram.

Men - believed to be construction workers - filming the collapse from behind barriers cry out in anguish as they watch the disaster unfold.

A resounding boom is heard as the crane hits the building.

SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO

Crane-collapses-2.jpg After the wind caught the crane it is believed to have topplied over under its massive weight (Youtube)

The crane can then be seen to buckle and bend as it tears through the roof.

mecca-crane-epa-3.jpg Scores of people were praying in the mosque when the crane collapsed (EPA)  

A violent rainstorm and strong winds brought down as constructions workers were trying to make the huge complex safer for the millions of visiting Hajj pilgrims expected in the coming weeks.

Tons of rubble and debris rained down scores of people gathering in the mosque for 6.30pm prayers when a section of the crane crashed through the roof.

Photographs inside the mosque show a grisly scene, with police and onlookers attending to numerous bodies strewn around the polished mosque floor in pools of blood.

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