A compensation of SR400,000 each will be given to the families of those killed in a hospital fire in Jazan in 2015, sources in the emir's office were cited as saying in a newspaper report.

The injured will be referred to the court to assess the type of damage and set proper compensation, a report in Makkah daily said.

The emir’s office referred the case of the victims’ families to the Jazan Health Affairs Directorate as a perquisite to release the amount of compensation or blood money. The amount of compensation decided for each victim’s family was approved by the higher authorities and was assessed by a number of officials from the ministries of interior, finance and health and the Bureau of Investigation and Public Prosecution.

Jazan Health Affairs Directorate spokesman Nabeel Ghawi said the Jazan Emir’s Office instructed that all cases of the injured and the victims should be referred to the pertinent court to assess the amount of the blood money.

Asim Qaderi, who lost his father in the fire, said the Jazan Health Affairs Directorate told him that his father’s file is being processed and will be ready in the next few weeks then will be referred to the Ministry of Finance.

The incident occurred on Dec. 25 in 2015 and the fire was caused by a short circuit near the nursery section on the first floor.

A fact-finding committee ordered by Prince Muhammad Bin Nasser, emir of Jazan region, concluded that the contractor should be held responsible for failing to meet the safety requirements

The committee referred two managers and three engineers to the Bureau of Investigation and Public Prosecution. The Civil Defense report showed 15 breaches of safety requirements.

SOURCE : SAUDIGAZETTE