Lightning Strikes Iconic Mecca Clock Tower As Storm Batters Saudi Arabia. WATCH

A video that surfaced on the Internet showed lightning striking Saudi Arabia’s renowned clock tower in Mecca.

Saudi Arabia’s Mecca, home to Islam’s holiest sites, has witnessed severe storms that have affected the pilgrims. A video that surfaced on the Internet showed lightning striking Saudi Arabia’s renowned clock tower in Mecca. The sacred Kaaba, the world’s largest clock tower, was illuminated by the lightning, spreading light over the city. The moments of lightning strikes that hit the Grand Mosque as well as the nearby clock tower of the Abraj al-Bait complex were captured by photographers.

The storm brought gale-force winds exceeding 80 kilometres (50 miles) 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.

Mecca resident Abu Mayyada told AFP he was out buying cigarettes and petrol when "everything went black in front of me" as the worst of the storm hit. "Suddenly I lost control over the vehicle. I couldn't see anything so I started listening to the Koran on the radio. I didn't understand what was happening," Mayyada said.

The Mecca neighbourhood of Al-Kakkiyah recorded 45 millimetres (1.8 inches) of rain within 24 hours, the meteorology centre said on X, formerly known as Twitter. In footage shared with AFP by Mecca residents, pilgrims outside the Grand Mosque can be seen toppled over by the wind, which also sent crowd barriers sliding across the rain-slicked floor.

"The scene was very scary," said Mecca resident Mohammed, who went out for grocery shopping. "Everything happened within a few minutes, when it started raining in a crazy way." Another resident, Yusuf, said August usually brought strong winds to Mecca but that Tuesday's storm was "the worst" he could remember, as reported by AFP.

Extreme Storm And Rain Hits Saudi Arabia’s Mecca

Saudi Arabia’s Mecca has been witnessing extreme storms and rain that have affected pilgrims. Following the extreme weather conditions, schools were closed. 

In the videos that surfaced online on Tuesday, pilgrims who were doing the tawaf, circling the Kaaba, were seen getting soaked and slipping on the floor as heavy downpour lashed and carried objects around, as per an Aljazeera report. However, no casualties were reported due to the storm.