King al-Dosari, the representative for the Mecca region governorate, said that at 10.30 p.m. on Friday, the security officials responded to an accident where a vehicle hit one of the entrance gates of the Grand Mosque, Al Arabiya news revealed referring to the Saudi Press Agency.
As per the SPA “The car swerved while moving at a high speed on one of the roads surrounding the southern courtyard of the Grand Mosque. Thankfully, no one was injured.”
Officials took the man into custody inside, who appeared to be in an “abnormal” condition, the agency stated, without explaining much further. Police referred the man to prosecutors for potential charges, as indicated by the report.
As per several sources, the vehicle is said to have entered the courtyard using Road 15 which is the main street which directly opens into the King Fahad Expansion yard of Masjid Al Haram.
The street is normally packed and is just used to drop off and pick up pilgrims prior to and after Salah time, this street moreover contains the Royal Safa Palace and the office of the General Presidency of the Two Holy Mosques.
UPDATE | A Hyundai car, beige colored, collided at Door 89 of Masjid Al Haram at 10:25 pm And the driver was arrested inside the expansion of King Fahad No one was hurt, Alhamdulillah pic.twitter.com/C4TX6cvODs
— Haramain Sharifain (@hsharifain) October 30, 2020
A minimum number of barriers are kept and space is left between them for the safety of the pilgrims in light of the fact that a large number of pilgrims go through them during peak hours.
The barriers on the entrance of the yard are not hard and can be easily be rammed down by an uncontrolled vehicle which is obvious from the video and photographs acquired.
The Saudi newspaper Okaz revealed that no bystanders were harmed in the accident, while different videos posted on social media indicated various individuals driving the vehicle away from the mosque complex.
The vehicle involved was beige coloured Hyundai that rammed in the Door 89 of Grand Mosque.
The Grand Mosque has the cube-shaped Kaaba that observant Muslims pray toward five times each day. Officials had closed down the mosque in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, however as of late returned it to small crowds of faithful. Footage broadcast on the state-operated Quran TV satellite channel displayed individuals inside circling the Kaaba prior to and after the accident.
The kingdom held a significantly scaled-down, symbolic hajj pilgrimage in July because of worries that it could undoubtedly have become a worldwide super spreader event for the infection.
The Grand Mosque continued congregational prayers recently following a seven-month halt because of the novel COVID-19 pandemic.
On Sunday, the Kingdom will permit a few foreigners to perform Umrah, a pilgrimage to the cities of Mecca and Medina.
