Saudi BinLadin Group has contracts frozen after Mecca crane crash

The Saudi BinLadin Group has been suspended from new contracts following the collapse of a crane in Mecca's Grand Mosque which killed 107 people. Saudi Arabian authorities have also placed existing contracts of the construction giant, which is run by Osama Bin Laden's brother, Bakr, under review. The group's board members and senior executives have been banned from travelling, following an order by Saudi King Salman.

However, after reviewing a report of the Accident Investigation Committee which suggested negligence on the part of the company, King Salman found "an absence of criminal suspicion", according to a royal court statement reported by the official Saudi Press Agency. "The main reason for the accident is the strong winds while the crane was in a wrong position," said the announcement.

The Saudi BinLadin Group was founded by Osama Bin Laden's father, Mohammed Bin Laden, 80 years ago and has long been one of the Saudi government's most trusted contractors, undertaking key defence and security projects, alongside expansion work at the Grand Mosque, and other high profile contracts in Islam's holiest site.

A previous official statement from the Saudi royal court accused the company of "shortcomings", following the crash on 11 September, which also injured 238 people. The crane crashed into a part of the Grand Mosque where worshippers circle the Kaaba, the black-clad cube which Muslims face in prayer.