Saudi court jails 45 for Jeddah flooding
JEDDAH: A Saudi court has jailed 45 people including government officials in connection with deadly flooding five years ago in Jeddah, reports said yesterday.
The 2009 floods killed 123 people, left thousands homeless and provoked unprecedented outrage in the kingdom’s second-largest city. Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia sought legal action against officials and contractors for alleged corruption, mismanagement of real estate and land planning that exacerbated the inundation.
The Arab News said a court convicted 45 people who were sentenced to various jail terms. It did not give details of the sentences.
They were also fined more than SR14m ($3.73m) in total, the report said. It provided no names but said the defendants included “high-ranking officials... academics, engineers, businessmen and foreign workers”. They were charged with offences including bribery, forgery, misuse of public money, engaging in illegal business and money laundering, Arab News said.
The inability of Jeddah’s infrastructure to drain off flood waters and uncontrolled construction in and around the Red Sea city were blamed at the time for the high number of victims.
A huge rainstorm sparked the flash floods which overwhelmed Jeddah’s limited infrastructure.
More than 11,000 people joined a Facebook page to protest over the floods, charging that the city government and contractors were at fault.
AFP
