Saudi Arabia Says Hajj Won’t be Affected by Mecca Crane Collapse

Riyadh (PNA/Xinhua) — Saudi authorities said on Saturday that Islam’s annual hajj pilgrimage won’t be affected by Friday’s crane collapse that killed 107 and injured 238 pilgrims at Mecca’s Grand Mosque, local news channel Al Arabiya reported.

Prince Khalid Al Faisal, the Mecca governor and head of the central hajj committee, has ordered renovations of all damages that were caused by the deadly incident, the report said.

It said the crane collapsed when working on the expansion operations at the Grand Mosque, which aims to accommodate the ever-increasing number of pilgrims from all over the world.

An investigative committee has “immediately and urgently” begun searching for the cause of the collapse, the official Saudi Press Agency said.

It said more than 909,000 pilgrims had arrived in Mecca for this year’s hajj, expected to start on Sept. 21. (PNA/Xinhua) SCS/PJN