Nine builders of Central Asia’s largest mosque have been injured after falling from a 60-meter height, according to the Emergencies Committee under the Government of Tajikistan. 

“The accident took place at the site for construction of Dushanbe’s Central Mosque Monday (February 25) morning.  Nine builders fell from a 60-meter height after construction staging collapsed,” Umeda Yusufi, a spokeswoman for the Emergencies Committee, told Asia-Plus in an interview.  

According to her, they sustained various injuries and were taken to the National Medical Center (Qariyai Bolo Hospital).  

Construction of the Dushanbe Central Mosque, which is expected to be Central Asia’s largest mosque, is nearing completion in Dushanbe.

Recall, President Emomali Rahmon began construction of this mosque not far from downtown Dushanbe in October 2011, a month after officially raising the country’s flag on the world’s tallest unsupported flagpole in Dushanbe.

The mosque is expected to be able to accommodate up to 120,000 worshipers.  When completed, Tajikistan will be home to the Central Asian largest mosque, dwarfing the Turkmenbashi mosque in neighboring Turkmenistan, which can hold 10,000 people.

Critics are saying the mosque is an extravagance and that the money would be better spent on poverty reduction.