Some 184 killing in al-Haer prison fire
Saudi Arabia's authorities expected that reasons behind the large fire which erupted on Monday at Haer prison, one of the largest jails in Saudi Arabia, was because of and electricity short damage, ruling out that a terrorist act is behind it.
An official at the prison announced yesterday the increase in the number of victims of the fire from 67 to 94, while other sources indicated the increase of the number to more than 180 persons.
Families and relatives of the prisoners, which the Saudi authorities stressed are not political prisoners, complained against the "negligence" in rescue operations that resulted in increasing the number of victims. They also complained against the scarce information about their children and relatives.
The Saudi dailies described the fire as the largest that "hit a prison in the kingdom," as al-Haer prison is considered the largest detention center for public rights cases. Hours after the incident, the Saudi authorities announced the formation of an investigation committee to find the reasons behind the disaster.
The fire was controlled on Monday evening just hours after its eruption, while hundreds of families of the prisoners stayed all night waiting for information about their relatives. The Saudi dailies said that three helicopters were used to admit the dead and wounded to hospitals in Riyadh. Al-Riyadh daily indicated that "state of disorder on the roads leading to the site" of the fire resulted in several traffic accidents.
In London, the Saudi opposition member Saad al-Faqih said that the number of victims is much larger than what was officially announced, noting that the number might reach 184 killing. He added "according to a security source, 144 prisoners were killed, 32 policeman and 8 police officers." Haer prison to the south of Riyadh belongs to the general directorate of prisons which is supervised by the son of the Saudi minister of the interior Prince Muhammad Bin Nayef.
Medical sources said that the list of prisoners who were the victims of the fire includes 52 Saudis., three from Chad, two from Somalia; two from Yemen, and others from Eritrea; Ethiopia, Bangladesh and one Jordanian and other 4 whose identities were not recognized. Other surviving prisoners who number 3000 were evacuated to an unidentified place by helicopters, while the security forces cordoned the site and tightened security measures on the victims in the hospitals and prevented visits to them.