“Mecca crane collapse: 107 dead at Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mosque”

Very sad:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-34226003

I’ve been showing images of this very mosque — the Grand Mosque or, in Arabic, al-Masjid al-Haram — and talking about it in my classes this past week.

The loss of life might, perhaps, have been even worse, though, had this accident occurred eleven days from now, when pilgrims from all over the world will have gathered in Mecca for the annual pilgrimage of the hajj.

إِنَّا للهِ وَإِنَّـا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعونَ

“We belong to God, and to Him we shall return.”

(Thanks to Nicol Sorenson-Legakis for ensuring that I didn’t miss this story.)