JEDDAH – The Investigation and Public Prosecution Authority is reviewing Civil Defense reports on the Grand Mosque crane crash that killed 111 people and injured 238 others. Three investigators recently visited the site of the accident and recommended hiring crane safety experts and making sure that the project engineers fulfill precaution and safety measures. A source informed Al-Watan newspaper that the investigators recorded the process of interrogating engineers from Saudi Binladin Group. The people in question provided all the required paperwork for the crane. The first round of field investigation resulted in several observations: Strong winds accompanied by lack of precautionary measures were the main reasons that pushed the crane down. Field trips The source said that until recently the authority did not receive any public claims of private rights. “The investigation team plans to conduct other field trips to the accident site whenever required. They must gather all information needed to identify those involved in the accident and hold them accountable,” the source said. The charges will include negligence, violations of safety measures and the loss of life and damaging of property. Criminal responsibility Lawyer and former member of IPA Assim Al-Mulla told Al-Watan that the responsibility for the accident lies on all people working on the project. He said that everyone who is involved and evidence proves his intentional negligence must bear the criminal responsibility and that includes technicians, workers, engineers and even the crane operator and the project supervisors. Everyone is subject to criminal punishment. Negligence suspicions Al-Mulla said that a letter went viral on social media carrying instructions issued by a senior official of the Presidency of the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques to project and safety managers at the Saudi Binladin Group. The letter dictates that all construction work at the Grand Mosque must stop by Thursday, Sept. 10, 2015 and only cleaning and emergency operations were allowed on sites. If the letter is authentic then all people working on this project left the site a day before the accident and that makes the case purely criminal. Safety measures Vocational safety and security expert in the Middle East Yusuf Al-Tayeb was quoted by Al-Watan as saying that anyone using construction cranes in large projects similar to the ones in Makkah must adhere to strict safety measures in accordance with the guidelines issued by the manufacturing companies. “When assembling the machine, the guidelines indicated in the machine's manual must be followed strictly and carefully,” said Al-Tayeb. Precautions Al-Taybe said that precautions prior to operating heavy machinery include testing all functions including safety equipment. “There are many safety conditions that are crucial to the operation of each machine. Engineers and people operating these heavy machines must be fully aware of any damage to ensure that nothing goes wrong,” he said.
