Saudi King, Salman bin Abdulaziz, has reportedly ordered that the families of those who were killed or who were permanently injured in the last week Friday’s crane collapse at a Mecca mosque each be paid one million Saudi Riyals (about N65 million) in compensation.
Anadolu international news agency report quoted a royal decree issued by the King as requiring that 500,000 Riyals (about N32.5 million) will be paid out to those who suffered less serious injuries.
According to the National Hajj Commission (NAHCON), six Nigerian pilgrims died in the tragedy. NAHCON said that the victims comprised one male from Kaduna State, four females from Gombe and one male from Katsina. They were buried yesterday in Martyrs’ Cemetery, situated adjacent to the mosque where the incident took place.
It has not been disclosed how many Nigerians were injured in the tragedy.
A total of 110 people were killed – and at least 235 injured – when a massive crane collapsed in Mecca’s Grand Mosque on Friday.
When the accident occurred, the mosque was teeming with hundreds of worshippers performing the annual Hajj pilgrimage.
Saudi officials initially attributed the accident to “strong winds” which they said, had caused the crane to fall inside the mosque, which is currently undergoing extensive expansion works.
However, yesterday, Saudi Arabia’s official press agency (SPA) reported that board members of the Bin Laden Group – a prominent Saudi development firm involved in the expansion works – had been barred from leaving the country.
The news agency went on to report that a commission of inquiry had found the development firm at least partly responsible for the collapse of the crane, which, the commission asserted, had been left in a “precarious position.” [myad]
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