A stampede killed at least 717 pilgrims and injured hundreds more on the outskirts of the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, the deadliest tragedy to strike the annual hajj pilgrimage in more than two decades.

Update 8:46pm More than 700 people have been killed and hundreds injured in a stampede on the outskirts of Mecca, the deadliest such tragedy to strike the annual hajj pilgrimage in nearly a decade.

At least 150 people have been killed in a stampede at the annual hajj pilgrimage, Saudi Arabia’s civil defence directorate said.

High winds have been blamed for causing a massive crane to topple and crash into Mecca’s Grand Mosque, killing at least 107 people ahead of the start of the annual hajj pilgrimage.

At least 107 people have died after a construction crane crashed into the Grand Mosque in the Saudi city of Mecca after toppling over during a storm.

At least 87 people were killed when a crane toppled over at Mecca’s Grand Mosque yesterday, Saudi Arabia’s civil defence head said, less than two weeks before Islam’s annual haj pilgrimage.

Update at 8.20pm: At least 87 people have been killed and more than 184 injured after a crane collapsed on the Grand Mosque in the holy city of Mecca, according to Saudi Arabia’s civil defence authority.