A general view from inside the Grand Mosque showing a part of a large crane that collapsed on the mosque on 11 September 2015.

No fewer than 87 pilgrims died today after a  crane collapsed at a construction site in Macca, Saudi Arabia.

The accident occurred when heavy wind pulled down the crane at a construction site within Kaaba (Holy Mosque).

The crane, supplying construction materials at an ongoing multi-storey building, was said to have collapsed on thousands of  pilgrims who were performing Dawaf (going round the Kaaba).

The civil defence authority announced the collapse and a series of rising casualty numbers on its official Twitter account. It said 184 people were wounded in the accident.

The nationalities of those killed have not been ascertained as of now.

Videos and photos posted by social media users showed a grisly scene, with police and onlookers attending to multiple bloodied bodies on the polished mosque floors.

Pan-satellite Al-Jazeera Television broadcast footage from inside the mosque compound said to be from the aftermath of the accident, showing the floor strewn with rubble and what appear to be pools of blood.

Confirming the incident, the Coordinator, Mecca Operations of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), Dr Aliyu Tanko, said the area had been cordoned off by security agents.

He said the building was part of the expansion projects being undertaken by the government of Saudi Arabia.