Saudi court dismisses Makkah crane crash case

A Saudi court dismissed the charges against 13 accused over a crane collapse that killed over hundred pilgrims at the Grand Mosque two years back, a newspaper reported on its website.

The prosecution objected to the ruling and said an appeal would be lodged, said the Okaz daily.

On September 11, 2015 a huge construction crane collapsed into Mecca's Grand Mosque, killing more than 100 pilgrims and injuring over 200 others in the lead-up to the annual Hajj pilgrimage.

The accused included at least one Saudi "billionaire" and citizens from Pakistan, the Philippines, Canada, and several Arab countries, the Okaz and Saudi Gazette newspapers reported when the trial began in August.

Five months on, the criminal court in Makkah said on Thursday it did not have jurisdiction to hear cases involving "safety breaches", the Okaz reported. There was no clarification why Thursday's report referred to 13 accused, while previously 14 were mentioned.

They were charged with "negligence leading to death, damaging public property and ignoring safety guidelines" at the site of the Grand Mosque where a crane collapsed, the report said.

It was one of several cranes the Saudi Binladin Group had employed as part of a multi-billion-dollar expansion. At least 109 people died, including foreign pilgrims, leading King Salman to suspend the firm for several months from new public contracts.

About two weeks after the crane crash, a fatal human crush occurred during Hajj rituals in Mina, near Mecca. Unofficial sources put the death toll at almost 7,000 people. 

Days into the crush, Riyadh gave a death toll of 770, and has so far obstinately refrained from updating that figure despite the fact that figures produced by independent sources strongly contradict Saudi Arabia's estimate.

Observers say the kingdom fears that releasing the real figure will be a clear sign of its catastrophic mismanagement of Hajj rituals.