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MECCA, Saudi Arabia, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- The Saudi government on Tuesday barred Saudi Binladin Group from taking on new construction projects after a deadly crane accident at the Grand Mosque in Mecca. Saudi Arabia's royal court, headed by King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz, imposed the ban on the company, which will be in place until an investigation into the Mecca incident, which killed 107 people and injured 238, concludes.
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The accident was likely caused by strong winds -- featuring gusts of up to 50 mph -- and poor positioning of the crane.
The court ordered its Finance Ministry to evaluate all of the Binladin's projects. Aziz also vowed to find the true cause of the incident and publish his findings.
Binlandin Group is one of the largest construction firms in Saudi Arabia -- it handles major projects like the $7.2 billion expansion of the King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Jeddah as well as work on the Grand Mosque itself, to which 4.3 million square feet of space was to be added. This would have increased the capacity of the mosque to 2 million people at one time.
The group dates back to 1931, five years after the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was founded.
