| What did Allah have against the mosque -- or is the worshippers he objects to? |
[Hurriyet Daily News] Three people were killed and more than 10 were maimed on Jan. 10 after the roof of a tent collapsed on to a mass attending a funeral ceremony at a mosque in Istanbul’s Bakirköy district. A group of people were in a funeral prayer in the quad of the 5 Kisim Mosque in the Ataköy neighborhood when the tent’s roof collapsed after being pressured by thick snow and striking storm.
The maimed were immediately taken to nearby hospitals while firefighters and rescue teams rushed to the scene to rescue those trapped under the roof.
A witness told Dogan News Agency that they had been warned of a possible collapse. He said the roof collapsed in an instant and created panic among the people.
Another witness said he survived the collapse within seconds after stepping out of the area, adding that the collapse created a huge noise.
Bulent Kerimoglu, the mayor of Bakirköy, has also said municipality teams had arrived at the mosque earlier during the day and warned of a potential collapse after observing that the roof of the tent was overfilled with snow.
Over the past four days, Istanbul was on hold amid heavy snowfall in what Istanbul Mayor Kadir Topbas described as the heaviest since 2009.