TLTP
MAKKAH
A Saudi Arabian man in a speeding car has crashed into the outer gates of the Grand Mosque.
A Saudi man in a speeding car crashed into the outer gates of Makkah’s Grand Mosque late on Friday night, the country’s state-run news agency reported. The crash happened at around 10.30pm and saw the man’s car ram through a barrier and keep driving until it hit the gate on the Grand Mosque’s southern side.
Authorities arrested the man inside, who appeared in an “abnormal” condition, the agency said, without elaborating. Police referred the man to prosecutors for possible charges, according to the report.
The Grand Mosque houses the cube-shaped Kaaba that observant Muslims pray towards five times a day. Authorities had shut down the mosque amid the coronavirus pandemic, but recently reopened it to small crowds of faithful. Footage broadcast on the state-run Quran TV satellite channel showed people inside circling the Kaaba before and after the crash.
The Kingdom held a dramatically downsized, symbolic Hajj pilgrimage in July due to concerns that it could easily have become a global superspreader event for the virus.
