TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The Iranian death toll from the collapse of a crane in the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, rose from 8 to 11, the deputy head of Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization announced on Tuesday.

With the 3 missing Iranian Hajj pilgrims confirmed dead, the number of Iranian pilgrims who lost their lives in the incident in Masjid al-Haram reached 11, Hamid Mohammadi told the Tasnim News Agency.

He further said that after the Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization collected exact information about the three missing pilgrims and found that they were present at the scene when the crane collapsed, it confirmed their death in the incident.

On Sunday, the organization had said that 8 Iranian nationals had been killed in the deadly incident.

On Friday evening, a large construction crane toppled over during a violent rainstorm in Mecca and crashed into Masjid al-Haram, killing at least 107 pilgrims and wounding 238 others.

The incident has raised fears about the safety of the site before the yearly hajj pilgrimage that is expected to bring in hundreds of thousands of visitors to Saudi Arabia this month.

Masjid al-Haram is the world’s largest mosque and houses the Kaaba, the black cube that Muslims around the world pray toward and which they walk around during the pilgrimage.

By Tasnim News Agency