The Grand Mosque crane crash case will now be retried after the Saudi Arabia Supreme Court reversed the defendants’ convictions and acquittals. The court’s decision was made seven years after the Haram crane crash, which occurred on September 11, 2015 and resulted in the deaths of 108 persons and the injuries of another 238.

On August 4, 2021, the Makkah Criminal Court’s decision to exonerate every defendant in the crane crash case was affirmed by the Court of Appeal. The Criminal Court delivered its third decision in December 2020, clearing all 13 defendants in the case—including the Saudi Bin Laden Group—of all charges.

The court then stated that it had discovered nothing further to its earlier rulings and that it would transmit a copy of the judgment to the Court of Appeal for that court’s consideration. In a previous decision on October 1, 2017, the Criminal Court had cleared all 13 defendants of the negligence charges. Additionally, the Makkah court had concluded that weather conditions, not human error or fault, had contributed to the accident.

In the case of the Haram crane crash tragedy, the First Circuit of the Supreme Court made the decision to reverse every judgment rendered by the Criminal Court and the Court of Appeal. It was mandated that all cases be reexamined by a new judicial circuit, which was to be comprised entirely of judges who had not previously considered the case.

The Court of Appeal, the defendants, and the appropriate authorities have all been made aware of the Supreme Court’s revised ruling. Ten of the accused were present when the Supreme Court met, according to sources, while three defendants or their lawyers were not there. The Supreme Court circuit mandated that the case’s trial proceed without these defendants.

The Supreme Court indicated in its verdict that it examined various aspects of the case as well as the investigations conducted over the incident and the rulings issued in this regard. It reviewed the request of the Ministry of Finance to remove the crane as it was no longer needed. The court noted that the defendants had also not submitted evidence for allowing the crane to remain erected there with an explicit written directive from the project owner or the supervising consultant.

The court also emphasized that, it was not sufficiently verified that the crane’s arm should remain raised and not to be lowered, given that the time of the incident was the peak Hajj season, which is the period specified for stopping work in order to ensure safety and security of Hajj pilgrims and Umrah performers.

The accident, according to the court, was caused by lack of the required highest degree of precaution for the lives the pilgrims at the peak Hajj season and also in the wake of the fluctuations of weather conditions during that period. The court stated that it had discovered “that there was insufficient research regarding the existence of an alert regarding the weather situation related to the incident in terms of wind direction and speed when this alert was issued and how it was communicated to the stakeholders.”

The Supreme Court recalled that in its earlier ruling, it had warned of the necessity of scrutiny and investigation with everyone who appeals for his negligence in removing the crane from the site crowded with human souls, and frequented by Muslims from everywhere. It said that if the accountability of other persons is established, they shall be dealt with in accordance with what was decided by Article 19 of the Law of Criminal Procedures.

The court also pointed to the indictment that stated that some of the workers operating and installing the cranes and the inspectors working on the site lacked competence. There were workers authorized to operate the cranes even though they are illiterate, and no documented evidence was provided to the investigation team to prove their level of competence and training. The main contractor was accused of failed to verify the competence of the workers to operate, load and handle due to the multi-nationality of the workers and their languages, the varying levels of their competency, and the absence of a clear training program for them.

The court also cited the indictment, which claimed that the crane operator did not provide specific information about the wind speed at which the cranes should be turned off. In the days before, the Presidency of Meteorology and Environmental Protection predicted the possibility of wind blowing, but no action was taken, indicating poor communication and follow-up by the safety officials.

Additionally, the crane operator and safety officials were not provided with a weather forecast, which is necessary for the operation of the cranes. While the crane operating manual was not present in the crane cabin, the regulation also pointed out that the previous months of the accident witnessed a number of accidents that occurred or almost occurred and the matter passed without corrective measures taken on the ground or lessons learned, and no warning publication was issued.

An independent case was filed against one of the accused who left the Kingdom, and he did not return to the Kingdom, according to the indictment, while no accusations were brought against individuals affiliated with entities.

Recall that King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud ordered that 1 million Saudi riyals in compensation be given exclusively to the families of those who died in the crash and to those who had lasting impairments after the September 11th attacks.The relatives of the victims of the crane tragedy that occurred in the Makkah Grand Mosque in 2015 received compensation payments from the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Nigeria in March.

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