Why is the famous case of Jeddah’s floods being re-investigated?

The famous case of Jeddah’s floods was about to be forgotten, until the royal order issued yesterday, to form a Supreme Committee to fight Corruption.

The Supreme Committee chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman decided to re-investigate the file of the corruption involved in the flood disaster retroactively, after several files revealed involvement of senior officials and ministers who will not be able to get away with it this time.

116 people killed, 350 missing

The disaster took place eight years ago in November 2009, when one day Jeddah faced torrential floods that washed away thousands of homes which killed 116 people, while 350 were considered missing, according to official estimates.

About 3,000 cars were damaged by these floods, in addition to losses in infrastructure estimated at millions of riyals.

The tragic days marked Jeddah’s flood disaster, and a decision was issued soon after to form a supreme committee for investigation and reveal who caused this disaster.

The Committee continued for a long time and arrested a large number of businessmen and officials, and it continued its investigations for several years. Some government employees faced charges, when investigations revealed that they received bribes in various deals, a number of which were not related to the disaster.

Judicial authorities trying the cases related to the flood disaster issued acquittals to 54 defendants 30 months ago, only to be overturned by the Supreme Court.

The investigations are expected to review of these trials and summon hundreds of senior officials in government sectors, who are involved in the case.