Preliminary Ruling Acquits 13 Accused in Makkah Crane Crash Case

Toppled crane in Makkah Grand Mosque. AFP, Getty Images
Toppled crane in Makkah Grand Mosque. AFP, Getty Images
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Preliminary Ruling Acquits 13 Accused in Makkah Crane Crash Case

Toppled crane in Makkah Grand Mosque. AFP, Getty Images
Toppled crane in Makkah Grand Mosque. AFP, Getty Images

A penal court in Makkah acquitted on Sunday 13 employees in Binladin Group, charged with negligence in the September 11, 2015 crane crash incident, which had resulted in deaths of at least 109 people and the injury of some 400 others.

“The court said that they are not criminally responsible for the incident,” adding that the Saudi attorney general had filed an appeal against the decision which was approved.

The crane toppled over near the Grand Mosque in Makkah amid stormy weather, just days before Hajj.

The Binladin Group's defense team claimed the Saudi Arabia-based construction firm could not have predicted the severe thunderstorm and violent winds that caused the crane to fall.

The construction firm had been working for years on a multi-billion-dollar 400,000 square-meter enlargement of the Grand Mosque to accommodate increasing numbers of pilgrims to the site.

The collapsed crane was one of several erected by the Binladin Group as part of the project.



Saudi Arabia Welcomes Macron’s Decision to Recognize Palestine as a State 

France's President Emmanuel Macron looks on as he waits for Lebanon's Prime Minister ahead of their working lunch at the presidential Elysee Palace in Paris, on July 24, 2025. (AFP)
France's President Emmanuel Macron looks on as he waits for Lebanon's Prime Minister ahead of their working lunch at the presidential Elysee Palace in Paris, on July 24, 2025. (AFP)
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Saudi Arabia Welcomes Macron’s Decision to Recognize Palestine as a State 

France's President Emmanuel Macron looks on as he waits for Lebanon's Prime Minister ahead of their working lunch at the presidential Elysee Palace in Paris, on July 24, 2025. (AFP)
France's President Emmanuel Macron looks on as he waits for Lebanon's Prime Minister ahead of their working lunch at the presidential Elysee Palace in Paris, on July 24, 2025. (AFP)

Saudi Arabia welcomed on Thursday French President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to recognize Palestine as a state.

The Saudi Foreign Ministry said the Kingdom hails “this historic decision, which underscores the international community’s consensus on the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and to establish their independent state on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.”

The Kingdom stressed “the importance of continued efforts by states to implement international resolutions and uphold international law.”

It reiterated its call for all countries that have not yet recognized the State of Palestine “to take similar positive steps and adopt serious positions that support peace and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.”

Macron said in a post on X that he will formalize the decision at the UN General Assembly in September. “The urgent thing today is that the war in Gaza stops and the civilian population is saved,” he wrote.

The mostly symbolic move puts added diplomatic pressure on Israel as the war and humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip rage. France is now the biggest Western power to recognize Palestine, and the move could pave the way for other countries to do the same. More than 140 countries recognize a Palestinian state, including more than a dozen in Europe.