Saudi prosecutors will bring charges against engineers and two government employees as a result of the 2015 crane collapse in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, which killed 107 people and infuriated top government leaders.
Reuters reports that Al-Riyadh, a local newspaper that “reflects government thinking,” quoted a source as saying that investigators and the prosecution “had completed an eight-month investigation into the case that was conducted in secrecy and which involved questioning a number of suspects…The court is in the process of deciding the (date of the)first hearing in coming days after the judge studies the case.”
Reuters reports that Al-Riyadh did not specify what the charges were or how many people would face trial.
According to an AFP report which cited unnamed western diplomats, authorities were “embarrassed” by the accident. The collapse of a crane in Mecca on September 11th was said to “deeply trouble” Saudi Arabia’s King Salman as analysts say the King took unusually swift response in sanctioning the Binladin group.
King Salman tours the site of the crane collapse in Mecca.
Salman reportedly ordered prosecutors to prepare an indictment but also took immediate steps — suspending the company from new public contracts and forbidding its executives from leaving the country, pending the completion of judicial processes.
The company’s suspension has since been lifted.
An investigative commission ruled that the company had not “respected the norms of safety,” according to Saudi Arabia’s official press agency (SPA) said. According to the Saudi Gazette, the King was briefed on the report of the committee that carried out probe into the accident.
However, the report found there was no criminal intent in the accident.
