Saudi Gazette report JEDDAH — It was a painful scene indeed! People were neither able to express their joy at surviving the deadly accident, nor were they able to cry for those who died when a crane at the Grand Mosque in Makkah collapsed on Friday afternoon. Beyond these contradictory feelings, they heard the horrific sound of the falling crane in complete shock and fear while strong winds and rain were blowing away everything and everyone. Iraqi pilgrim Abdulrazzaq Saleh did not know that choosing to stay closer to the Holy Ka'ba after completing his Asr prayers would save him from the massive piles of concrete that fell on the visitors to the Grand Mosque. When Saleh decided to move to the mosque's covered areas as rain started, he heard a loud noise that made him hurry to the nearest door. “I couldn't leave the mosque, although I wanted to, and I rushed toward the exit doors,” Saleh said. “The noise became louder from behind, which forced me to go back to the area I left. Stones and pebbles were everywhere. Dead and wounded bodies were all over the place. I could hear some victims screaming out of pain. This horrific scene pushed me to provide all the help and support I could.” Another pilgrim, Mussa Hussein, said: “It started raining heavily while I was praying at the open space of the mosque. About to finish my prayer, stones started pouring from all directions. At first, I didn't know where they were coming from. There were strong winds and very loud noises preceding the falling stones.” He said that as the wind got stronger, he heard a very loud noise that shook the ground. “Everything happened so fast and this is why so many people inside the Grand Mosque panicked and started rushing and pushing, hurting each other even more,” he said. Another pilgrim, Mahmoud Ali Shabaan, chose to sit near the Station of Ibrahim (the stone on which Prophet Ibrahim — peace be upon him) stood on while building the Kaaba. reading the Qur'an while waiting for the Maghreb (sunset) prayer. “I wanted to remain at the mosque after Asr and I chose to sit near the Station of Ibrahim (pbuh),” he said. “While I was reading the Qur'an, I heard a very loud noise that coincided with the falling of concrete and metal. I didn't realize what was going on.” When Shabaan woke up, he found himself lying at a hospital bed getting treatment. “My right knee was broken and I had bruises all over my body, but the level of care the hospital staff provided me eased my pain,” Shabaan said.
