Saudi Arabia starts processing compensation claims

Heirs of victims to be provided SR1m, injured to receive SR500,000

Saudi authorities have started the process of providing compensation to victims of the September 11 crane collapse in Makkah which killed 111 people and injured about 238 others.

King Salman had said that compensation of 1 million riyals will be provided to heirs of each person who died or who had suffered permanent disability, Saudi Gazette reported. Those injured in the incident were promised SR500,000 apart from invitations of two of their relatives for the next year’s Hajj as personal guests of the monarch.

“There is no room for fraud. Nobody can illegally benefit from the royal compensation,” warned Dr Mustapha Baljoun, director of the Department of Health Affairs in Makkah.

In the first phase, Saudi authorities have started gathering personal data of every victim registered at the hospitals.

“We will carefully collect the data of all the dead or injured victims to forward complete reports on them to authorities concerned to study their separate files and decide on their cases,” Dr Baljoun said.

Medical committees review the survivors and determine whether the nature of their injuries caused permanent disabilities or not.

“Almost all the dead victims have been identified and many of the injured have recovered,” Dr Baljoun said.

As many as 11 Pakistanis had died in the crane collapse while 51 had been injured.

Stampede toll nears 100

The toll for Pakistanis killed in the Mina stampede rose to 95 on Friday as the Hajj ministry said Saudi authorities had verified two more casualties. At least 22 Pakistanis are still listed as missing.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 10^th, 2015