MAKKAH: Frightening bolts of lightning struck Makkah and one man drowned as the city was lashed by thunderstorms overnight on Tuesday and early Wednesday.
Mohammed Al-Twaim, a teacher at Mina Primary School, lost his life trying to escape from his car after it was engulfed by floodwaters.
As pilgrims attempted to circumambulate the Kaaba in the Grand Mosque, lightning struck the landmark Fairmont Makkah Clock Royal Tower, lighting up the night sky. The storm brought gale-force winds in excess of 80 km/h and 45 millimeters of rainfall in 24 hours, National Meteorology Center spokesman Hussein Al-Qahtani said.
Pilgrims outside the mosque were blown over by the wind, causing crowd barriers to slide across the rain-soaked floor. “The scene was very scary,” said Makkah resident Mohammed, who was shopping at the height of the storm. “It all happened within minutes when it started raining like crazy.
Another resident, Abu Mayyada, was buying cigarettes and gasoline when “everything went black in front of me” at the worst of the storm, he said. “I suddenly lost control of the vehicle. I couldn’t see anything, so I started listening to the Koran on the radio. I didn’t understand what was going on.”
Makkah governorate said schools would remain closed and classes would be held on an e-learning platform “for the safety of all”.
The meteorological center warned of further storms in the Mecca area and elsewhere in western Saudi Arabia.
