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Crane tragedy: 5 Nigerian pilgrims confirmed dead in Saudi Arabia

A statement from the court, relayed by the state news agency SPA, said that the crane “was in a wrong position”.

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He asked the ministry of finance to review all government projects now developed by SBG, one of the country’s largest construction companies.

The Saudi Binladin group denied that the crane had been badly constructed or operated.

The crane collapsed following heavy winds and killed 107 pilgrims as they travelled to the holy site of the Kabbah for the annual hajj pilgrimage.

The King also issues directives to host two family members of the deceased as the King’s guests to perform Hajj in 1437H.

Ruling out any criminal suspicion in the accident on Friday, the royal court said that Saudi Binladin Group, the main developer in the Grand Mosque, will no longer be considered for future projects pending further investigations and trial.

The company was founded by Osama Bin Laden’s father more than 80 years ago and is run by the late al-Qaeda leader’s brother, Bakr.

Mr Akram, who was believed to be 32, and a private hire driver, had been in the Grand Mosque with his parents some 50 yards ahead of them when the crane struck the mosque which is Islam’s holiest site.

It was the worst accident in a decade surrounding the hajj, which begins next Tuesday and is expected to draw about two million faithful from around the world.

The couple staying in one of the buildings at Azizia near the Grand Mosque had gone for “tawaf” (circumambulation) of Kaaba on Friday when the huge crane fell at the mosque.

He said: “I saw him on Wednesday and he was really looking forward to it, smiling and asking me for tips because I went past year”.

An engineer with Saudi Binladin Group told AFP on Saturday that what had happened was an “act of God” and not the result of a technical fault.

There is no report of any pilgrims being in critical condition, the consulate said.

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King Salman has announced that the families of all fatally wounded victims, as well as those who received permanent disabilities will be compensated with 1 million riyals ($267,000) and those with treatable injuries will be given half of that sum.

Six Nigerians among Saudi tragedy victims