Saudi king sanctions Binladin firm over pre-hajj tragedy

Yahoo – AFP, Ian Timberlake, 15 Sep 2015

Workers stand next to a crane that collapsed at the Grand Mosque in Saudi 

Arabia's holy Muslim city of Mecca, September 12, 2015 (AFP Photo)

Riyadh (AFP) - Saudi Arabia's King Salman sanctioned the powerful Saudi Binladin Group Tuesday over the collapse of a construction crane at Mecca's Grand Mosque, which killed more than 100 people days before the hajj pilgrimage.

An investigative commission had concluded that the company "was in part responsible" for Friday's tragedy, which killed at least 107 people and injured almost 400 during a severe thunderstorm accompanied by violent winds.

A picture provided by the Saudi Press

Agency on September 12, 2015 shows

Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz (C)

holding the hand of an injured pilgrim

at a hospital in Mecca (AFP Photo)

The company had not "respected the norms of safety" at the site, the official Saudi Press Agency said.

The firm's executives have been forbidden from leaving the kingdom pending the completion of legal action against the company, SPA said.

During the same period, the company will also be excluded from new public projects.

The construction firm belongs to the family of the late Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

It had been working for four years on a 400,000-square-metre (4.3-million-square-feet) enlargement of the Grand Mosque, to accommodate increasing numbers of pilgrims.

That is the equivalent of more than 50 football pitches, and will allow the complex -- Islam's holiest site -- to accommodate roughly two million people at once.

After visiting the scene of the tragedy Saturday, Salman vowed to reveal what happened.

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

Hundreds of thousands had already converged on the Grand Mosque when the red and white crane, one of several overlooking the site, crashed into a courtyard.

Muslim pilgrims pose for pictures in front of the crane that collapsed at the Grand

 Mosque in Saudi Arabia's holy Muslim city of Mecca, September 14, 2015

(AFP Photo)

Saudis, Iranians, Nigerians, Malaysians, Indonesians and Indians and were among the dead.

'Act of God'

Officials say the tragedy will have no effect on preparations for the hajj, one of the world's largest religious events.

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

The crane, like many others on the project, had been there for three or four years without any problem, he said.

"It was not a technical issue at all," said the engineer, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"I can only say that what happened was beyond the power of humans. It was an act of God and, to my knowledge, there was no human fault in it at all."

Muslim pilgrims walk around the Kaaba at the Grand Mosque on September 14, 

2015 in Mecca, Saudi Arabia (AFP Photo)

The engineer said the crane was the main one used on work to expand the tawaf, or circumambulation area around the Kaaba -- a massive cubed structure at the centre of the mosque that is the focal point of Muslim worship.

"It has been installed in a way so as not to affect the hundreds of thousands of worshippers in the area and in an extremely professional way," he said of the crane.

"This is the most difficult place to work in, due to the huge numbers of people in the area."

The crane's heavy hook, which is able to lift hundreds of tonnes, began swaying and moved the whole crane with it, toppling into the mosque, the engineer explained.

Related Article:

Hajj to go ahead after Mecca crane collapse kills 107

Hajj to go ahead after Mecca crane collapse kills 107

Yahoo – AFP, Kamal Idris, 12 Sep 2015

A picture taken on September 11, 2015 in Saudi Arabia's holy Muslim city of Mecca

shows a construction crane after it crashed into the Grand Mosque (AFP Photo)

Mecca (Saudi Arabia) (AFP) - Saudi authorities said Saturday that Islam's annual hajj pilgrimage will go ahead despite a crane collapse that killed 107 people at Mecca's Grand Mosque, where crowds returned to pray a day after the tragedy.

Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims had already arrived in Mecca for the hajj, a must for all able-bodied Muslims who can afford it, when the massive red and white crane collapsed during rain and high winds on Friday.

Parts of the Grand Mosque, one of Islam's holiest sites, remained sealed off Saturday around the toppled crane, which also injured around 200 people when it fell into a courtyard.

But there was little mourning among pilgrims, who snapped pictures of the wreckage and continued with their prayers and rituals.

"I wish I had died in the accident, as it happened at a holy hour and in a holy place," Egyptian pilgrim Mohammed Ibrahim told AFP.

The accident occurred only about an hour before evening mahgrib prayers on the Muslim weekly day of prayer.

A massive construction crane crashed into Mecca's Grand Mosque in stormy

 weather on September 11, 2015, killing at least 107 people and injuring 238. (AFP

Photo/STR)

Om Salma, a Moroccan pilgrim, said "our phones have not stopped ringing since yesterday with relatives calling to check on us."

Indonesians and Indians were among those killed when the crane collapsed, while the injured included Malaysians, Egyptians and Iranians.

A Saudi official said the hajj, expected to start on September 21, would proceed despite the tragedy.

"It definitely will not affect the hajj this season, and the affected part will probably be fixed in a few days," said the official, who declined to be named.

An investigative committee has "immediately and urgently" begun searching for the cause of the collapse, the official Saudi Press Agency said.

The contractor has been directed to ensure the safety of all other cranes at the site, it added.

The cranes poke into the air over the sprawling mosque expansion taking place beneath the Mecca Royal Clock Tower, the world's third-tallest building, at 601 metres (1,972 feet).

For years, work has been underway on a 400,000 square metre (4.3 million square feet) expansion of the Grand Mosque to allow it to accommodate up to 2.2 million people at once.

Abdel Aziz Naqoor, who said he works at the mosque, told AFP he saw the massive construction crane fall during the storm.

"If it weren't for Al-Tawaf bridge the injuries and deaths would have been worse," he said, referring to a covered walkway which broke the crane's fall and surrounds the holy Kaaba.

The Kaaba is a massive cube-shaped structure at the centre of the mosque towards which Muslims worldwide pray.

Saudi governer of the Mecca region Khaled al-Faisal (C) listens to aides of the

 Grand Mosque of Mecca after a construction crane crashed into it on 

September 11 (AFP Photo/STR)

A witness said the winds were so strong that they shook his car and tossed billboards around.

'Act of God'

Pictures of the incident on Twitter showed bloodied bodies strewn across the courtyard, where part of the crane came to rest atop an ornate, arched and colonnaded section of the complex.

A video on YouTube showed people screaming and rushing around following a loud crash.

Saudis and foreigners lined up in the street to give blood in response to the tragedy.

Irfan al-Alawi, co-founder of the Mecca-based Islamic Heritage Research Foundation, suggested that authorities were negligent by having a series of cranes overlooking the mosque.

"They do not care about the heritage, and they do not care about health and safety," he told AFP.

Alawi is an outspoken critic of redevelopment at the holy sites, which he says is wiping away tangible links to the Muslim Prophet Mohammed.

But an engineer for the Saudi Binladin Group, the developer, told AFP the crane was installed in "an extremely professional way" and there was no technical problem.

"It was an act of God", he said.

A picture taken on October 5, 2014, shows construction cranes at the

 Grand mosque in Mecca. (AFP Photo/Mohammed Al-Shaikh)

Saudi Binladin Group belongs to the family of the late Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Sheikh Ahmed al-Ghamdi, former head of Mecca's religious police, told AFP the accident is a "test" from God.

"We need to accept what happened," he said, calling at the same time for a thorough investigation.

Condolences came in from around the world, including from Arab leaders, as well as from Britain, Canada, India and Nigeria.

This was not the first tragedy to strike Mecca pilgrims, though the hajj has been nearly incident-free in recent years.

In 2006, several hundred died in a stampede during the Stoning of the Devil ritual in nearby Mina, following a similar incident two years earlier.

Top lawyer takes on NAM over Groningen quake dangers

DutchNews, September 11, 2015

High profile lawyer Gerard Spong has made a formal complaint against gas extraction company NAM, saying he holds it responsible for deliberately damaging houses and other property in Groningen province. 

NAM, a joint venture between Shell and ExxonMobil, is in charge of extracting natural gas from large reserves under the province. Thousands of buildings have been damaged in earthquakes caused by the ground settling after the gas has been removed.

‘NAM has continued to drill in Groningen even though it is well aware of the risks, and has put dozens of lives in danger,’ Spong said. ‘This is a scandal, and the criminal courts should have their say.’ 

Various scientific reports show that the drilling is not only causing material damage but presents a real risk to people living in the province, Spong said. He is representing several private individuals and the lobby group Groninger Bodem Beweging. 

A criminal investigation is necessary because the state has a duty to protect its citizens against danger and injury, the lawyer said.

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NAM must compensate quake-hit Groningen home owners, says court

DutchNews, September 2, 2015

Gas extraction company NAM must compensate home owners in Groningen for the loss of value to their homes because of the earthquakes, whether or not they are up for sale, a court in Assen ruled on Wednesday. 

The court said NAM, a 50:50 joint venture between Shell and ExxonMobil, is responsible for the earthquakes and is therefore liable for the damage. The quakes are caused by the ground settling after the gas has been extracted. 

Local home owners, united in the WAG foundation, say 100,000 homes have been hit by the quake risk and are now worth over €1bn less than they should be. The foundation represents 12 housing corporations and some 900 private owners. 

NAM does pay compensation for visible earthquake damage and accepts house prices have gone down because of the quake risk. However, the company has refused until now to compensation home owners for intangible damage ahead of a sale. 

Values 

The court said the actual drop in values would need to be established at separate hearings and that it estimated property prices have fallen by several percentage points. WAG puts the drop at between 5% and 25%.

‘This is fantastic news,’ WAG’s lawyer Pieter Huitema told news agency ANP. ‘This is a major support to people living in the quake region.’ 

NAM can appeal against the ruling at the High Court in The Hague and the company said it is now considering what steps to take next.

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At least five people dead in chemical plant blast in Shandong

Want China Times, Xinhua and Staff Reporter 2015-09-02

The aftermath of the explosion in Shandong, Sept. 2. (Photo/Xinhua)

At least five people have been confirmed killed after a blast at a chemical plant on midnight Monday in east China's Shandong province, local authorities said early Wednesday morning.

The explosion occurred at around 11:22pm Monday at Shandong Binyuan Chemical in Diaokou township of Lijin county, according to the publicity department of Dongying city, which administers Lijin.

The fire was put out at around 4:20am Tuesday, and wastewater from the plant has been sealed without any spillover, the publicity department said. Air quality at the site is being monitored, which was "up to standard" till 8:00am Tuesday, the authorities added.

The cause of the incident is under investigation.

According to the website of Shandong Binyuan Chemical, the company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Shandong Binyuan Group. It was founded in March 2014 and is located in Binhai Economic and Technological Development Zone of Lijin county. The company is a high-tech enterprise with an annual production capacity of 20,000 tonnes of modified adhesive materials.

The incident comes weeks after explosions at a warehouse storing hazardous chemicals in the northern port city of Tianjin killed 158 people (confirmed death toll as of press time), exposing the lax supervision of the chemicals industry in China.

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