His Highness King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia has pledged an investigation into Friday's collapse of a crane on the site of the Grand Mosque in Mecca which left 107 people dead.
The Grand Mosque (or Masjid al-Ḥarām) is the world's largest and is currently being expanded under an ambitious 4th Expansion Plan to increase its capacity to 2 million people.
Made during a visit to the site of the tragedy and the Al-Noor Specialist Hospital in Mecca which has been treating the injured, the King's pledge included a rare undertaking to make public the findings of any investigation.
In the past Saudi Arabia's public administration and judicial systems have come under scrutiny from international human rights organisations for their perceived lack of transparency.
However, eyewitness accounts suggest interventions by members of the country's "Religious Police" (who are responsible for enforcing strict Sharia laws in the Kingdom) may have interfered with evacuation procedures by preventing women and children who were not dressed in traditional Islamic headgear and clothing at the time of the incident from leaving a building - despite suggestions from independent commentators that restrictive Sharia laws are suspended in life-threatening situations.
