JEDDAH, 18 September 2003 — As prison authorities began handing over the bodies of Monday’s prison fire victims in Riyadh to their relatives, Saudi Arabia announced yesterday that the 67 inmates killed in the blaze included 50 Saudis, five Yemenis, three Chadians, two Jordanians, two Somalis, a Sudanese, an Eritrean, an Ethiopian, a Palestinian and a Bangladeshi.
The official announcement by Maj. Gen. Ali Al-Harithy, director of the Prisons Department, put an end to two days of speculative reports with some newspapers saying the victims came from 18 different countries. The announcement also gave the reasons for the imprisonment of the 67 inmates. The Saudis were held for murder, assault, kidnapping, rape, sodomy, robbery, intoxication and drug trafficking.
The charges against the expatriate prisoners were drug abuse, drug trafficking, forgery, impersonation, robbery, and assault.
The prisons chief denied reports that the number of inmates who died in the fire was higher than the official figure. He also said there were no political prisoners among the dead.
Earlier, Prince Muhammad ibn Naif, assistant interior minister for security affairs, met with a committee set up by Interior Minister Prince Naif to investigate the cause of the fire that swept Al-Hair Reformatory, 30 km south of the capital.
During the meeting at the prison, Prince Muhammad urged the panel to investigate the incident carefully and without prejudice to find the real cause of the fire.
The prince also asked the panel to make recommendations to prevent similar incidents in the future. He expressed sympathy for the fire victims and conveyed his condolences to their families.
Meanwhile, Dr. Abdullah Al-Sharief, director general of health affairs in the Riyadh region, told Okaz daily that the condition of 12 of the 23 injured in the fire was critical.
