Earlier this month, on the Muslim holy day of Friday, a horrible accident took place in Mecca near Islamâ??s holiest site â?? the Kaaba. A huge crane fell on the mosque that encircles the cube-shaped shrine, killing 118 pilgrims and injuring almost 400. This tragedy was the deadliest crane collapse in modern history, and thus it begged for an investigation. Yet, in a highly religious country, the technicians that operated the crane, the Saudi Binladen Group, had an easy way out. One of them spoke to the press and simply said: â??What happened was beyond the power of humans. It was an act of God.â?
To their credit, the Saudi authorities did not buy this argument. King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud immediately suspended the company from work, ordered an investigation, and offered compensation for the families of victims. The investigators soon concluded that the company was responsible for the accident, because it did not â??respect the rules of safetyâ? and violated the manufacturersâ?? operating instructions.
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