Strong winds blamed as crane collapses on Mecca's Grand Mosque, killing more than 100

The head of Saudi Arabia's civil defence directorate says high winds caused a massive crane to topple over and smash into Mecca's Grand Mosque, killing at least 107 people ahead of the start of the annual hajj pilgrimage.

Director General Suleiman bin Abdullah al-Amro told satellite broadcaster Al-Arabiya on Saturday that unusually powerful winds in the area also tore down trees and signs as a storm whipped through the area.

He denied reports that lightning brought down the red-and-white crane or that some of those killed died in a stampede.

The civil defence directorate says 238 people were injured in the accident late Friday afternoon at the mosque, which houses the cube-shaped Kaaba and is ringed by several cranes engaged in ongoing construction work to expand the site.

Steep hills and low-rise traditional buildings that once surrounded the mosque have in recent years given way to shopping malls and luxury hotels among them the world's third-tallest building, a giant clock tower that is the centrepiece of the Abraj al-Bait complex.

The construction giant Saudi Binladin Group is leading the mosque expansion and also built the Abraj al-Bait project.

The Binladin family has been close to the ruling Al Saud family for decades and oversees major building projects around the country. The Binladen family disowned one of its many members, late al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, in the 1990s.

It was not immediately clear who owned the crane that collapsed.

Performing the pilgrimage once during one's lifetime is a duty for all able-bodied adult Muslims. This year's pilgrimage is expected to start around Sept. 22.