Historical eventSeptember 112015

Mecca crane collapse

A crane collapses onto the Masjid al-Haram mosque in Saudi Arabia, killing 111 people and injuring 394 others.

Everything on September 11Original source

In context

When
Friday, September 11 201511 years ago
Category
Historical eventA dated happening — a battle, treaty, launch, discovery, disaster or decision — recorded on this calendar day.
Era
21st century · 2010s
Recorded from
Wikipedia “On this day” feed

At a glance

Dates: From 2015-09-11.

Place: Al-Masjid Al-Haram, Saudi Arabia.

Type: disaster and structural failure.

Deaths reported: 111. Casualties: 394.

What happened

Aftermath Factors leading to the collapse There were strong sand storms in the region over the preceding week. The Saudi Civil Defence Authority said in a statement that an hour before the disaster, Mecca was experiencing medium to heavy rain . There were also reports of winds of more than 40 kilometres per hour (25 mph). However, the exact cause of the crane collapse was not confirmed. [ 1 ] Crawler crane LR 11350, manufactured by the German-based Liebherr Group [ 2 ] [ 3 ]

Reactions Irfan al-Alawi, co-founder of the Islamic Heritage Research Foundation, criticised the Saudi authorities, believing that their redevelopment of holy sites was not only damaging history, but putting many pilgrims' lives at risk. [ 1 ] Saudi Hajj minister, Bandar Al Hajjar , [ note 1 ] stated that the Hajj that year would be the last to be affected by reductions in pilgrim quotas due to construction work and is quoted to have said that, "Starting from next Hajj season,

A crawler crane collapsed over the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, around 5:10 p.m. on 11 September 2015, killing 111 people and injuring 394 others. The city was preparing for the Hajj pilgrimage. The collapse has been cited as the deadliest crane collapse in history, with the previous most deadly incident being the collapse of a construction crane in New York City in 2008, killing seven people.

September 11 through the years

Other entries on the same calendar day, in order.

  1. 20082008 Channel Tunnel fire
  2. 2011National September 11 Memorial & Museum
  3. 20122012 Pakistan factory fires
  4. 2012Central Intelligence Agency
  5. 2012Benghazi
  6. 2015Mecca crane collapse
  7. 2023Derna, Libya
  8. 2024Hurricane Francine
  9. 2024Soyuz MS-26
  10. 2025Jair Bolsonaro
  11. 2025Progress MS-32

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Everything we record for 2015 →

Sources

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“Mecca crane collapse”, What's On This Date, https://whatsonthisdate.com/app/event/mecca-crane-collapse-2015-september-11, accessed October 29, 2026.

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Questions about this entry

When did Mecca crane collapse happen?

September 11 2015 — 11 years ago, on a Friday.

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