A construction crane collapsed onto the Grand Mosque in Mecca on Friday, the holy city of Islam located in Saudi Arabia, killing 87 people and injuring at least 180, according to the New York Times. Conservatives wasted no time gloating on Twitter that the tragedy was divine payback for the September 11 attacks of 2001.
The mosque is currently surrounded by cranes because the Saudi government has embarked on a multibillion dollar project expanding it, the Times reports. The crane appears to have toppled amid a heavy rain storm. Video from inside the building shows chaos and worshippers covered in blood.
Mecca is the site of pilgrimage, or Hajj, for Muslims and the Grand Mosque houses the Kabaa, a black structure that is the equivalent of Tabernacle in Christianity and Judaism in that it is considered a dwelling place of God. When Muslims pray, no matter where they are in the world, they pray facing the Kabaa.
Conservative Christians seemed to believe the tragic accident was divine "karma," a concept borrowed from Eastern religions unrelated to Christianity -- a strange claim considering Christianity and Islam are two of the three Abrahamic religions, and they worship the same God.
The tweets, as seen here, were quite ugly:
On 9/11, lighting strikes #Mecca Grand Mosque, killing 65. Wrath of #Allah? #Karma #Remember911 (Pic @icwhatudo) http://t.co/YVvNGqRnI1— #Intolerant भारतीय (Sanjeev Goyal) (@#Intolerant भारतीय (Sanjeev Goyal))1441995808.0
Yesterday 9-10 over WTC & today 9-11 at Mecca: Hmmm..... http://t.co/qVyF7c5WCI— penelope210 (@penelope210)1441992197.0
Feel good story of 9/11/15: http://t.co/6LalXkQDvU— Chibi WilliamHenry Harrison🥶#ImpeachBiden #Resist (@Chibi WilliamHenry Harrison🥶#ImpeachBiden #Resist)1441991474.0
Nice to see a good Old Testament smiting today. RT @USATODAY: Scores killed by crane collapse in Mecca's Grand Mosque http://t.co/oJfMvVbgLX— CQ (@CQ)1441993046.0
Ironic that grandest building in country that funded and supplied the men for 9/11 collapses today #Mecca #NeverForget911— Hate Speech Monitor (@Hate Speech Monitor)1441992441.0
http://t.co/kPXAwtXqf1 ..... so we now know god ain't Allah and it get 9/11 revenge lmao— Citizen Roscoe (@Citizen Roscoe)1441997225.0
Hey #Islam: Shove it up your Hajj. #Mecca #September11 #tcot #tgdn— Reaganesque (@Reaganesque)1441999940.0
Dear Muslims: Perhaps God is sending you a message. #CraneCollapse on #GrandMosque in #Mecca on September 11th. #tcot #ccot #Christian— Mr. I.M. Wright (@Mr. I.M. Wright)1441998929.0
@cnnbrk that's a start!— TRump Won by A lot 🇺🇸 (@TRump Won by A lot 🇺🇸)1441992176.0
I send this offering to mecca on 9/11 ... Toilet Flush Sound Effect In High Quality https://t.co/dnYiV2e285 via @YouTube— Amethyst Braincloud (@Amethyst Braincloud)1442001852.0
Video of both the crane collapsing from the outside and chaos in the immediate aftermath can be seen here, posted to YouTube by Nature Reporter.
