RIYADH, 5 April 2004 — The head of Riyadh prisons has been fired and several other officials suspended for dereliction of duty during a fire that killed 68 people in the Kingdom’s largest prison last September, the Interior Ministry said yesterday.
An inquiry committee established that the fire at Al-Hair jail on the southern edge of the capital was started deliberately by an inmate who set a blanket ablaze, a ministry official said. The prisoner, who was identified as Saad Fehaid Al-Subaie, will be put on trial, the official said.
The official said Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd had issued a royal decree approving the report and recommendations of the committee, which investigated the incident. King Fahd also ordered payment of SR100,000 each to the heirs of fire victims who included 51 Saudis and 17 expatriates.
“The director of prisons in the Riyadh region will be relieved of his duties as a result of flawed supervision and follow-up of the incident,” he said, adding the suspended jail officials would also face trial.
They include the director of Al-Hair prison and the director of security at the department of prisons.
