MAKKAH, 16 March — Parents and guardians of the female students killed and injured in the Makkah fire yesterday said they will take legal action against officials of the Presidency of Girls’ Education, if investigations proved that they were indeed responsible for the tragedy last Monday, which claimed 14 lives.
“Our stand to take legal action will depend on the result of the investigations,” they told Arab News.
Khaled Al-Harithy, brother of Tahani, one of the 50 injured schoolgirls still receiving treatment at Al-Noor Hospital in Makkah, insisted that officials must be held responsible for their negligence.
“The tragedy was not caused by the stampede alone. First, the school was overcrowded, and it also lacked safety equipment and emergency exits,” Harithy said. He added that he was planning to take the Education Department in Makkah to court for housing the school in an unsuitable building, despite an order to transfer the students to a more suitable school environment.
Wahbi Al-Shanqeety, father of Asma, who died in the incident, argued that education and PGE officials should be bold enough to say they had made a mistake and so are ready to face the music.
Meanwhile, the committee set up to investigate the incident continued its sessions, questioning witnesses, students, parents and teachers. The investigations are being held at the school itself, from 8 a.m. until late night.
Yaaqub Muhammad Ibrahim, a witness interviewed by the committee, said that he closed his shop in front of the school soon after the fire broke out and rushed to take part in the rescue operation.
“I heard from people gathered around the school that some people had prevented parents from rescuing their girls. They also tried to keep us away from the area,” he said, in reference to reports that members of the Commission for Promoting Virtue and Preventing Vice had obstructed rescue operations.
