RIYADH: Three construction workers are confirmed dead and 10 others injured after steel scaffolding collapsed Monday at a construction site at Princess Noura Bint Abdul Rahman University for Women in Riyadh. Muhammad Al-Hobail, Assistant Media Relations Manager of the Civil Defense, told Saudi Gazette that the incident occurred at approximately 9.15 A.M. at the building site for the university's central library. The 11 injured were taken to Kingdom Hospital, Obaid Hospital and National Hospital. Al-Hobail denied unofficial reports which put the death toll at 36 with a similar number of injured. “The Civil Defense has begun investigations to establish the precise cause of the accident,” Al-Hobail said. “Not many workers were at the construction site at the time and that has saved a lot of lives.” Syed Zahoorul Hassan Gilani of the Community Welfare Wing at the Pakistan Embassy in Riyadh said one of the victims was a Pakistani. One engineer speculated that the accident might have been due to unsecured scaffolding slipping on uneven ground. The workers, all believed to be employees of the Saudi Oger company, were reportedly engaged in tile and cladding work to the façade of the library when the scaffolding structure caved in, trapping the workers beneath the debris. An unofficial source told Saudi Gazette that a “major rescue operation immediately took place to save the trapped workers”. “The injured were immediately rushed to the hospitals for emergency treatment,” the source said. Other companies who have employees working on the library are Saudi Bin Laden and Al-Seif. The $11.5-billion Princess Noura Bint Abdul Rahman University for Women is located along King Khaled International Airport Road in north Riyadh, and is scheduled to be completed in the first quarter of 2012 to cope with a projected maximum intake of 26,000 students. The total area of the campus is approximately eight million square meters, with a built-up area of around three million square meters housing administration buildings, 13 faculties, a 700-bed student hospital, laboratories, research centers and an area for student and staff residence.
