The crane collapse in Makkah on Friday which killed 107 people and injured almost 240 when the machinery fell onto a part of the Grand Mosque is shocking and saddening as Makkah prepares to welcome Muslims from around the world for the annual Haj. All reports indicate that strong winds and heavy rains caused the collapse, after a sandstorm turned into a rainstorm. Shortly before the crash, Makkah had been hit by unusually high levels of rainfall and winds, strong enough to uproot trees, shatter windows and in the end, powerful enough to fell a crane, reportedly one of the biggest in the Middle East. The winds were apparently difficult to monitor because of how quickly and suddenly they can whip up speed. It is also possible that lightning struck the crane before it collapsed. In the hindsight of every tragedy, it is almost always the case that it could have been worse. The crane fell at almost 5:30 pm. Had the collapse happened during Friday noon prayers or during the Haj proper, the casualty toll would have probably been much higher. It is unclear how many of the victims were killed by the collapse or the stampede that followed it. And it is not clear exactly why the crane fell. This will be the job of the committees set up to determine what happened, assess the damage, and examine the future safety of these sites. It would also be the task of the construction company to stop work immediately, which it has done, and at the same time check the remaining cranes to make sure others do not fall. The authorities have gone to great lengths to expand the site of the Grand Mosque to accommodate more and more pilgrims. In 2012, the more than three million people who undertook the Haj were deemed much more than what the site could take. Thus the authorities embarked on a two-pronged strategy: limit the number of people involved, steps taken since 2013, and secondly, begin a major expansion of the site, which began last year, to increase the area of the mosque by 400,000 square meters to allow it to accommodate up to 2.2 million people at once. This is the largest ever expansion in the history of the Grand Mosque. Work was in its final phase when the accident occurred. It is the crush of people that has led to tragedies in the past. After all such tragedies, the authorities have taken a series of safety measures aimed at preventing crowd crushes but this time, the accident came from a totally unexpected direction - inclement weather. The authorities did their utmost on Friday. Rescue teams arrived on the scene immediately and rushed the injured to the nearest hospitals. The authorities are also being helped by the public as long queues of people have been volunteering to donate blood for the injured. Many of the victims have yet to be identified, but it is likely that the tragedy will touch several countries, as the Grand Mosque and the Haj draw Muslims from around the world. The Haj is soon upon us as hundreds of thousands of people will descend on Makkah in less than 10 days. As we grieve for the dead, it is incumbent on the authorities to ensure, as much as is humanly possible, a safe pilgrimage for the rest.
