The company was founded by Osama Bin Laden’s father more than 80 years ago and is run by the late al-Qaeda leader’s brother, Bakr.
Last night, Qatar’s Emir, its deputy Emir and prime minister all sent their condolences to Saudi Arabia’s king, saying they were “praying upon Allah the Almighty to bestow blessing(s) upon the deceased and wishing the injured a speedy recovery”.
Binladin Group has not released any statements about the crane collapse and its representatives have not been made available for comment.
Those who sustained less serious injuries will receive 500,000 riyals, according to the royal order. Saudi Arabia on Tuesday announced it would suspend the new contracts, review the group’s other existing projects and bar the construction giant’s board members from travel.
A towering construction crane is seen collapsed over the Grand Mosque in Mecca on Saturday. An engineer with the Saudi Binladin Group told the AFP news agency that what had happened was an “act of God” and not the result of a technical fault.
Nigeria lost six pilgrims in the accident with four women from Gombe and one male apiece from Katsina and Kaduna states, while Saudis, Iranians, Malaysians, Indonesians, Britain and Indians were also among the dead.
King Salman also ordered 1 million riyals (236,650 euros, $267,000) be paid to the relatives of those killed and the same amount to those permanently injured.
The Grand Mosque crane collapse is thought to have been caused by strong winds and storms, which broke part of the Grand Mosque’s roof and caused rubble to fall on those praying.
The FO spokesman had said that out of the 47 injured, 26 Pakistanis were still admitted in three hospitals near Makkah, while others were discharged after necessary medical treatment.
When Saudi Arabia opened its stock market to foreign investors earlier this year, companies handling major projects in the holy cities weren’t accessible to foreigners.
That is the equivalent of more than 50 football pitches, and will allow the complex – Islam’s holiest site – to handle roughly two million people at once.