Court dismisses Makkah crane case: Report

RIYADH — A Saudi court on Thursday dismissed charges against 13 accused over a crane collapse that killed dozens at Islam's holiest site, a newspaper reported on its website. The prosecution objected to the ruling and asked to appeal, said the Okaz daily, which has closely followed the case. The accused included at least one Saudi and nationals from Pakistan, the Philippines, Canada, and several Arab countries, Okaz newspaper reported when the trial began in August. It was reported on Aug. 18, 2016, “Fourteen people are on trial in the case. Newspaper reports said six Saudis, including a billionaire, as well as two Pakistanis, a Canadian, a Jordanian, a Palestinian, an Egyptian, an Emirati and a Filipino are on trial. The defendants’ names were not made public.” Five months on, the criminal court in Makkah on Thursday said it did not have jurisdiction to hear cases involving "safety breaches", Okaz reported. There was no clarification why today's report referred to 13 accused, while 14 have previously been mentioned. They were charged with "negligence leading to death, damaging public property and ignoring safety guidelines" at the site of the Grand Mosque crane collapse in September 2015, Okaz said. During severe winds a construction crane toppled into a courtyard of the mosque. It was one of several cranes the Saudi Binladin Group had employed as part of a multibillion-dollar expansion to accommodate increasing numbers of faithful. At least 109 people died, including foreign pilgrims, and over 209 were injured, leading King Salman to suspend the firm for several months from new public contracts. Okaz reported last week that Judge Abdulaziz Hamoud Al-Tuairki had rejected a plea from defense lawyers to prevent newspapers from covering the case. He said they could appeal his ruling. Saudi Binladin Group, which developed landmark buildings in the Kingdom, was founded more than 80 years ago. The company last year said it had completed payment to 70,000 laid-off employees. A company spokesman could not be immediately reached to comment on the court case. — AFP