Fierce storms closed schools on Wednesday in Saudi Arabia\u2019s Makkah region, home to Islam\u2019s holiest site, the Grand Mosque, which was lashed by heavy rains and wind overnight, witnesses said. As pilgrims tried to circumambulate the Kaaba, the giant black cube towards which all Muslims pray, a bolt of lightning struck the iconic Fairmont Makkah Clock Royal Tower hotel, illuminating the night sky late on Tuesday. The storm brought gale-force winds exceeding 80 kilometres per hour, Hussein al-Qahtani, spokesman for the National Centre for Meteorology, told AFP. The conditions were similar to a 2015 storm that felled a crane at the Grand Mosque, killing more than 100 people and injuring hundreds more, Qahtani said. No casualties were reported in Tuesday\u2019s storm. Makkah resident Abu Mayyada told AFP he was out buying cigarettes and petrol when \u201ceverything went black in front of me\u201d as the worst of the storm hit. \u201cSuddenly I lost control over the vehicle. I couldn\u2019t see anything so I started listening to the [Holy} Quran on the radio. I didn\u2019t understand what was happening,\u201d he said. The Makkah neighbourhood of Al-Kakkiyah recorded 45 millimetres of rain within 24 hours, the meteorology centre shared in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. Footage shared with AFP by Makkah residents showed pilgrims outside the Grand Mosque who were toppled over by the wind, which also sent crowd barriers sliding across the rain-slicked floor. \u201cThe scene was very scary,\u201d said Makkah resident Mohammed, who was grocery shopping at the height of the storm. \u201cEverything happened within a few minutes, when it started raining in a crazy way.\u201d Another resident, Yusuf, said August usually brought strong winds to Makkah but that Tuesday\u2019s storm was \u201cthe worst\u201d he could remember. Flash flooding had mostly dissipated by Wednesday morning, said the residents, who gave only their first names for fear of reprisals. Nevertheless, the Mecca regional government said on X that schools would be closed in parts of Mecca, with classes conducted on an e-learning platform, \u201cin the interest of everyone\u2019s safety\u201d. The meteorology centre warned of further storms on Wednesday bringing rain, wind and thunder to the Makkah region and elsewhere in western Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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