Man commits suicide by throwing himself off the roof of the Grand Mosque in Saudi Arabia

Police in Saudi Arabia today said that a man has committed suicide by throwing himself off the roof of the Grand Mosque in Islam’s holiest city of Mecca



“A foreigner threw himself from the roof of the Grand Mosque in Mecca” to the courtyard below, “resulting in his instant death”, state news agency SPA said, quoting police.



The body was transported to the hospital, with an investigation underway “to determine the victim’s identity, what led to the act and how he was able to commit it despite the existence of a metal fence”, SPA said.



Last year, a Saudi man tried to set himself on fire in front of the Kaaba the square stone building in the centre of the mosque compound but was stopped by security forces. Every year, millions of Muslim pilgrims from across the world travel to Mecca and Medina, Islam’s second holiest site, also in western Saudi Arabia.