MAKKAH, 7 May 2008 — An Egyptian engineer was killed and four workers were critically injured when a building under construction collapsed at a prison in the Umrah district of Makkah yesterday.
The injured workers included three Egyptians and one Bangladeshi. The engineer’s body was dug out from the rubble by a Civil Defense rescue team one hour after the accident, a Civil Defense source told Arab News.
One of the injured workers said they were laying bricks and fixing iron beams for the building, which was to serve as a kitchen, when the four walls collapsed bringing down the beams that had been hoisted five meters above ground.
He added that the engineer’s life could have been saved if he was rescued from the rubble a little earlier.
The building is thought to have collapsed due to a technical flaw in its construction.
However, jail authorities and the Civil Defense have set up a joint committee to investigate the accident.
