Investigators ruled out sabotage on Tuesday as a cause of a blaze that killed at least 67 inmates at the biggest prison in Saudi Arabia, where the war against Islamist extremists linked to al-Qaeda is raging.
The authorities were working on the theory that an accident caused what al-Watan newspaper described as the ”worst catastrophe ever” at a Saudi pentitentiary.
Another 20 prisoners were injured as well as three members of the security forces on Monday at the al-Hair jail on the southern edge of the Saudi capital.
A committee was set up immediately by Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz to investigate the cause of the fire, but a high-level security source quoted by the Saudi-owned daily al-Hayat ruled out ”any act of sabotage”.
”This sort of accident happens anywhere and a short circuit cannot be ruled out, particularly since the fire started in the afternoon at a time when the electricity supply is overloaded,” the source said.
An AFP correspondent on the scene said the blaze was put out in the evening as about 100 relatives of prisoners gathered anxiously outside awaiting permission to go in.
Al-Hayat said the facility houses foreign as well as Saudi common-law prisoners.
Prison service chief Major General Ali Hussein al-Harethi said that a sponge mattress caught fire in a cell housing 20 inmates in wing 19 of the jail, setting off the blaze.
The stricken wing accommodates about 200 inmates.
Three helicopters backed by dozens of ambulances evacuated the casualties.
A massive security cordon was thrown around the prison and al-Ryad newspaper reported that it provoked a traffic jam so bad that there were numerous crashes.
In London, a Saudi opposition group said security forces, apparently fearing an attack, stopped and searched civil-defence cars and ambulances, delaying rescue efforts and causing the toll to rise.
The security cordon also prevented people from fleeing, leaving many to suffocate to death, charged Saad al-Fagih of the Movement for Islamic Reform, contacted from Dubai.
Fagih did not rule out an accident but said several sources reported that the fire was started by inmates ”who wanted to draw attention to their grievances, having failed to press their case by other means”.
In either case, the fire ”was badly managed, with the interior ministry taking over rather than civil-defence services and giving priority to security over rescue operations”, Fagih said.
Riyadh was the scene of triple suicide attacks against expatriate residential compounds on May 12 that left 35 people
dead, including several bombers.
Authorities launched a massive crackdown on suspected terrorists and shootouts have been common in various cities over the summer, underlining the renewed official pledge to wipe out the al-Qaeda network of Osama bin Laden in the kingdom.
The Movement for Islamic Reform, which was the first to break news of the fire, said 144 inmates and 40 security men died in the inferno.
”According to an unimpeachable security source, 144 inmates have died in the fire at al-Hair prison, in addition to 32 policemen and eight police officers,” said Fagih.
He insisted the fire broke out in the morning, several hours before authorities announced it, and charged that the high toll was partly caused by the authorities’ handling of the tragedy.
He said it also highlighted poor conditions in Saudi prisons, where inmates suffer from depression. — Sapa-AFP