Seven years after the crane crashed at Makkah Grand Mosque, killing some worshipers and injuring others, the Saudi Arabia authority and the National Hajj Commission NAHCON have finalised arrangements on compensation matters for the victims. Speaking during the occasion when he led a delegation to the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Nigeria to finalise the crash compensation, the NAHCON Chairman, Alhaji Zikrullah Kunle Hassan recognised the contribution of the Saudi embassy in Nigeria and Nigeria’s embassy in Saudi Arabia in resolving the compensation status.
He also commended the leaders of the two countries for their unalloyed support to officials charged with the responsibility of discharging this job successfully. The delegation comprised representatives of States Pilgrims’ Welfare Boards, lawyers representing relatives of the 2015 crane crash victims and representatives of beneficiaries. Ambassador Bolaji Akinremi, Director of Consular and Legal Services in the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs were also present representing his ministry.
Following the crane accident that occurred in the Makkah Grand Mosque on September 11th 2015, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud had ordered compensation be paid exclusively to relatives of those killed in the crash, victims who sustained permanent impairments and to those victims that sustained lasting injuries from the accident.
The grant was a personal gesture by the Saudi monarch to support the victims of the accident. Meanwhile, NAHCON chairman advised beneficiaries to do what is right under Islamic shari’ah, especially to deceased’s dependents. Faisal Al-Ghamidy urged those alive to use the money judiciously in managing whatever grants they would receive, commending Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari, the Foreign Affairs Ministry, NAHCON and other stakeholders that contributed to the final resolution of the compensation.
He also lauded King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud for his magnanimity to victims of the crash. At the handing over ceremony were: the Commissioner of Policy, Personnel Management and Finance, Alhaji Nura Hassan Yakassai, lawyers representing the beneficiaries and the state boards’ officials.
