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DUBAI: A Saudi man in a speeding car crashed into the outer gates of the Great Mosque in Mecca on Friday night (October 30), the country’s state news agency reported.
The accident occurred around 10.30pm (5.30pm Singapore time) and he saw the man’s car go through a barrier and kept driving until it hit the door on the south side of the Grand Mosque, the Saudi Press Agency said.
Authorities arrested the man inside, who appeared to be in an “abnormal” condition, the agency said, without giving further details. Police referred the man to prosecutors on possible charges, according to the report.
The video on social media was from the news agency account, and security forces later pushed the damaged sedan.
The Great Mosque houses the cube-shaped Kaaba that practicing Muslims pray five times a day.
Authorities had closed the mosque amid the coronavirus pandemic, but recently reopened it to small crowds of worshipers. Images broadcast by state television channel Quran TV showed people inside circling the Kaaba before and after the accident.
The kingdom held a symbolic hajj pilgrimage drastically reduced in July due to concerns that it could easily have turned into a worldwide virus super-spread event.
