MAKKAH, 8 January 2006 — Workers and engineers began yesterday excavating the site of Thursday’s hotel collapse in an effort to find the cause of the building’s tragic fall, according to Fare’ Alsilami, a Makkah municipal official at the site.
Interior Minister and Chairman of the Supreme Haj Committee Prince Naif held an emergency meeting with top regional officials to discuss the accident.
As of last night, the official death toll remained at 76 and 62 injured.
A fence has been erected around the site in order to keep curious citizens at bay as the investigation into the collapse commenced. Dozens of onlookers gawked from the periphery as others snapped cell-phone pictures and thousands ebbed past for last-minute shopping before heading to Mina.
“We worked around the clock picking bodies out and looking for survivors,” said Alsilami. “You never feel tired when you are on a rescue mission.”
Fawzan Ahmad, a shopkeeper near the hotel, said he lost a friend in the accident who was walking near by the building when it collapsed. “I was terrified by the scene. For a moment, the whole incident seemed like a nightmare,” he said. “I knew many people working around the area and all I could think about is whether they were alive or dead.”
Prince Naif met yesterday with Makkah Governor Prince Abdul Majeed, Madinah Governor Prince Abdul Aziz ibn Majed and other top regional officials to form two sub-committees in the investigation of the cause of the hotel’s collapse — one to oversee all agencies involved in the investigation and the other to pinpoint the exact failings of the structure. A government official speaking on condition of anonymity told Al-Ekhbairya television Friday that the hotel had a weak foundation, a charge the hotel operator Habib Turkistani denied.
Prince Naif said that the accident was tragic and that King Abdullah is following the investigation closely. He told a press conference after the meeting with top local officials that full information concerning all matters related to the accident will be announced as soon as they are clear. He said the government of Saudi Arabia views the incident with great concern.
“I pray to God to help pilgrims perform their rites safely. I hope that the pilgrims would cooperate with the authorities and abide by the regulations to facilitate their Haj. As for government departments, they must work hard to facilitate the Haj,” said the interior minister.
Prince Naif stressed that all injured pilgrims are to be taken care of, and the truth behind the accident shall be reached to know exactly who is responsible and that such matters must not be left without resolution.
