One million Riyals compensation for Mecca crane crash victims

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman sanctioned the powerful Saudi Binladin Group on Tuesday over the collapse of a construction crane at Makkah’s Grand Mosque, which killed more than 100 people days before the Haj pilgrimage. An investigative commission had concluded that the company “was in part responsible” for Friday’s tragedy, which killed at least 107 people and injured almost 400 during a severe thunderstorm accompanied by violent winds. [caption id=“attachment_2431216” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  The site of the crane accident in Mecca. AFP[/caption] The company had not “respected the norms of safety” at the site, the official Saudi Press Agency said. The firm’s executives have been forbidden from leaving the kingdom pending the completion of legal action against the company, SPA said. During the same period, the company will also be excluded from new public projects. The construction firm had been working for four years on a 400,000-square-metre (4.3-million-square-feet) enlargement of the Grand Mosque, to accommodate increasing numbers of pilgrims. That is the equivalent of more than 50 football pitches, and will allow the complex to accommodate roughly two million people at once. 1 million Riyals compensation King Salman has ordered 1 million Saudi Riyals (Dh0.98m) compensation for injured with permanent disability, and half a million riyal compensation for those injured in Haram accident, English daily Saudi Gazette reported today. Families of the crane collapse victims will also receive one million riyals compensation, the Saudi royal court said. Two relatives of the deceased will be the King’s guests for Haj in 2016. AFP