RIYADH/JEDDAH, 10 April 2007 — The bodies of seven Pakistani workers who died in a construction accident in Bahra, about 30 kilometers from Jeddah, on March 26 were flown to Karachi yesterday.
“The accident took place when a 150-meter transmission tower weighing 205 metric tons fell on 14 workers who were engaged in laying down a transmission line in Bahra off the old Jeddah-Makkah Highway,” Shaukat Ali Chaudhury, labor welfare officer at the Pakistan Consulate in Jeddah, told Arab News. He added that seven workers survived the accident. Two of the survivors are still receiving treatment at hospital. The 14 workers, who were all Pakistani, worked for the National Power Construction Company (NPCC), a Lahore-based company owned by the Pakistani government.
The dead have been identified as Saeed Ahmed, Kaleemullah, Ashfaq Ahmed and Muhammad Aslam, all from Faisalabad, and Zahoor Hussain, Ghulam Qasim and Muhammad Imran, from Multan.
Choudhury said the bodies would reach Karachi at 4.40 a.m. today by PIA flight 732 and will be flown from there to the workers’ native towns.
Muhammad Hijaz Khan, personnel officer of NPCC in Jeddah, told Arab News that they were processing documents relating to outstanding dues and compensation for the victims. “The General Organization for Social Insurance (GOSI) will award suitable compensation to the next of kin of all the dead workers,” Hijaz Khan said, adding that the company has paid an initial amount of SR50,000 to the families of each of the dead workers. The injured have received SR25,000 each.
“Although the bodies have been cleared for repatriation, the Saudi authorities are continuing their investigations to determine the cause of the accident,” Hijaz Khan said. He also thanked the Pakistani Consulate in Jeddah, which was “very helpful in processing the documents within a short period of time.”
Over 300 colleagues of the dead workers performed funeral prayers at King Abdul Aziz Hospital in Jeddah before the coffins were taken to the airport.
Tauqri Ahamed Sharifi, general manager of NPCC, who arrived in Jeddah from Lahore to assess the situation, also attended the prayers.
