Dubai, UAE—A court in Makkah has fined Saudi Binladin Group SR20 million ($5.33 million) after the Group was convicted of negligence and violation of safety rules in the crane crash in the Grand Mosque of Makkah, media reports said.
A total of 111 people were killed and 394 others injured in the crane crash on Sept 11, 2015 during the Haram expansion project. The court ruled that the company is not required to pay blood money to the kin of those killed in the accident.
The court found seven defendants guilty of negligence and violation of safety rules, the reports said, adding three of the defendants were sentenced to six months in prison and fines amounting to SR30,000 while four others were awarded three months in jail and SR15,000 in fines.
According to informed sources, the verdict will be considered final unless a cassation request is submitted to the Supreme Court in accordance with the regular procedures.
In a previous verdict on Oct. 1, 2017, the Criminal Court had acquitted all 13 defendants who were charged with negligence. The Makkah court had also ruled that the disaster was caused by heavy rains and thunderstorms, rather than human error or fault.
Consequently, the First Circuit of the Supreme Court decided to overturn all the verdicts issued by the Criminal Court and the Court of Appeal in the crane crash case. It ordered that all the cases shall be reexamined by a new judicial circuit and that the circuit shall not include any one of the judges who had previously considered the case, the reports said.
