|
0e5acea4-a296-4096-a3cd-9dbe5ded5eec41.jpg
Let's start with those awful scenes at the Grand Mosque in Mecca after a giant crane collapsed and crashed onto people praying at Friday prayers. There're reports of at least 87 dead, more than 100 injured. Unverified mobile phone footage published on social media appears to capture the moment the crane collapsed.
On there all the awful scenes that have been appearing on social media. There's also been a lot of concern about the safety of pilgrims going there. There's been a lot of building work around the area, which is Islam's holy shrine and growing concerns about what will happen when people turn up for the huge hajj pilgrimage. Irfan Al Alawi is the executive director of the Islamic Heritage Research Foundation. He knows Mecca very well.
At the moment we're looking at at least I think today and Friday's prayers, probably in the region about 800,000 people in the Grand Mosque, especially closer to the time of the hajj. And therefore when this incident happened, which was about 5 pm Meccan time, the Mosque would have been packed for the next prayer which was about 45 minutes away and this is why the people were of course injured and there was a stampede. But of course it doesn't come to me too as a surprise of having this tragedy because it has happened before, perhaps not as at a large scale as we see today, but nevertheless it has happened before. | 
发表于 2016-9-13 14:41:19