By Mustapha Adamu
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has released compensation to victims of 2015 Crane crash that occurred in Makkah, Saudi Arabia.
This was disclosed by Nigeria’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Justice Muhammad Isa Dodo (Rtd) during a meeting with officials of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) in Jeddah, preparatory to the meeting and signing of the 2020 Hajj Memorandum of Understanding for the 2020 Hajj.
A statement by Fatima Sanda Usara, Head, Public Affairs on Sunday said the compensations for five among the deceased and two seriously injured pilgrims were released to the Nigerian Embassy in Riyadh, adding that it had forwarded same for handing over to the families of the victims.
The statement added that the Commission would soon coordinate payment of the compensation in accordance with provisions of the law.
The statement also said that the Nigeria’s Minister of State, Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Zubairu Dada, during a ministerial meeting with the Saudi Minister of Hajj and Umrah, Dr. Muhammad Bn Saleh Benten, thanked the Kingdom for the release.
The statement recalled that on 11th September 2015, a crawler crane collapsed during a thunderstorm at the Kaaba Grand Mosque in Makkah claiming many lives and injuring others.
Nigeria lost six pilgrims from Gombe, Kaduna and Katsina States to the crash and three others sustained injuries. King Salman of Saudi Arabia had pledged to pay compensation to the victims of the crash.
The Commission and Nigerian Missions in Saudi Arabia, in line with the directives of President Muhammadu Buhari had regularly followed up on the pledge of the King, which was eventually redeemed.
