KHOBAR/DAMMAM: The contractor of the Dammam Bridge Project said he and his company would bear the responsibility for collapse of a bridge Wednesday. Abdul Rahman Al-Dirbas said at a press conference Thursday that his firm, Al-Dirbas Contracting Company, is responsible for what happened. The accident resulted in one death and four injuries. Al-Dirbas expressed his grief and assured his company's commitment to compensate the victims as per Saudi law. Al-Dirbas said the collapse was due to human error. A winch struck the sixth pillar on the outer bridge that caused the seventh pillar to collapse. He said no one expected the workers to be there, especially as the concrete work was done. Al-Dirbas said his company is doing several other projects but no accidents happened there. Responding to a question on his company's responsibility on the accident, which sparked a debate between the Eastern Province's mayoralty and the municipal council; Al-Dirbas said the company had sent the mayoralty three letters regarding the designs of the projects before their construction, but received no response. He said the errors are in the faulty designs, which is not the responsibility of his company. After the debris is removed, Al-Dirbas said the work would continue Saturday. He said the company will acquaint the mayor, Eng. Daif Allah Al-Otaibi, with all details on the accident. But the mayor said the mayoralty has suspended the contractor pending investigation results. He said the investigation committees will conclude their work on the collapsed part of the bridge within four days. Al-Otaibi said the mayoralty is waiting for the final report results from the Municipal and Rural Affairs Ministry, the Mayoralty, King Fahd University and International Specialist Companies on the tunnels and bridges dossier. – Al
