Saudi Arabia said yesterday that stormy winds knocked over the crane which collapsed onto one of Islam's holiest shrines in Mecca and killed 107 people on Friday.

The huge red crane crashed into a part of the Grand Mosque as it was filled with worshippers, less than two weeks before the annual Hajj pilgrimage.

The Grand Mosque, known as the Masjid al-Haram, is the largest mosque in the world and surrounds Islam's holiest place, the Kaaba.

"Heavy rain and strong winds of unusually high speed led to the uprooting of trees, the fall of panels and the collapse of the crane," General Suleiman al-Amr, director general of the Civil Defence Authority, told Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya TV yesterday.

The number of deaths may increase, al-Amr said. Many of the 238 people injured in the accident were only lightly wounded, he said. It is unclear how many people were hurt by the collapse or the stampede that followed it. Those killed are reported to include Indonesian, Indian, Iranian and Egyptian citizens.

Essam al-Ghalib, a Jeddah-based journalist, said the crane fell through the outer ring of the Grand Mosque and punctured through the roof sending down tons of cement and debris onto people either praying or walking through.

Mecca's governor, Prince Khaled al-Faisal, has ordered an investigation into the incident, Al-Arabiya said.

Much of the city centre is undergoing construction work and many high cranes crowd the skyline. The Grand Mosque itself is undergoing an expansion and renovation.

The disaster was the latest in a series of deadly mishaps to hit the Hajj, one of the world's largest religious gatherings, after hundreds of pilgrims died in a stampede in 2006.

Authorities have broadened access paths and imposed limits on the millions of Muslims who converge on Mecca to perform the annual rite in an attempt to reduce accidents. Up to two million people are expected to arrive for the Hajj from all over the world later this month.

An unnamed Saudi official involved in organising the Hajj was quoted by Al-Arabiya as saying the pilgrimage would go ahead as planned.

"The incident won't affect the Hajj pilgrimage this year and repairs to the damaged section (of the mosque) will begin within days," the official said.