Authorities on Saturday detained the Yemeni contractor of a mosque under construction in Al-Manar district in eastern Jeddah the roof of which collapsed on Friday leaving one man dead and eight injured as the search continues for more victims under the wreckage. Acting director of the Civil Defense in Jeddah Colonel Abdullah Al-Jiddawi said the contractor was detained on the charge of recruiting workers in violation of residency regulations whose lack of experience and knowledge in the basics of construction may have been the cause of the roof's collapse. Specialized engineers from the city's Mayor's Office are taking part in the investigation. Currently investigators are attempting to ascertain whether the contractor had obtained a proper construction license, Al-Jiddawi said, adding that they are also looking into the way that the cement mixture was poured and at the fact that there were no supporting concrete pillars in the area where the roof collapsed. The relationship of these factors to the collapse of the mosque's roof is being investigated by a competent committee. Despite the contractor's assurances that only eight people were at the site at the time of the collapse, authorities continued their search for other possible victims as a precaution, especially as an injured worker who was in violation of residency laws attempted to hide from rescuers in a side room. No one else so far has been found as rescue teams have removed 20 percent of the wreckage. Capt. Abdullah Al-Amri, spokesman of the Civil Defense in Makkah Region, said that on Friday the Operations Room received a report of the collapse of the 750-square-meter roof of the mosque while cement was being poured on it. Five rescue and firefighting teams supported by a large crane rushed to the scene and began lifting the collapsed roof. Al-Amri said that during the initial inquiry, the injured workers said that two of their colleagues were on the roof while cement was being poured while the rest were below. He said the search for trapped workers is still going on using sonar devices and that it would continue until they are certain there are no workers trapped under the debris. Civil Defense men used saws to cut the iron reinforcement bars in order to reach the trapped workers. Eyewitness accounts claiming that over 15 people could be under the debris caused the Civil Defense men to intensify their search. Informed sources said that preliminary investigations showed that the workers were looking for leakages during the pouring of the cement when suddenly the roof collapsed on top of them and they were trapped under the reinforcement bars. Nine workers were rescued and the body of one worker was recovered. Col. Abdullah Al-Jiddawi, acting director of Civil Defense in Jeddah Governorate, followed the work of the rescue teams under the field command of Col. Mubarak Al-Shahrani and Lt. Col. Dakheel Al-Sulami. Dr. Muhammad Bajubair, director of Emergency and Safety Administration in the Directorate of Health Affairs in Jeddah, said the directorate announced a yellow state of medical alert in three government hospitals and one private hospital near the site. Eleven teams from the Ambulance Unit and the Red Crescent rushed to the scene and took the injured workers to King Fahd Hospital. Sources close to the district where the project is located said that there was a clear error in the pouring of cement and that the area was large and there were no cement pillars to support the weight of the roof.
