Construction workers set fire to 9 company buses after management sacked thousands of staff

Employees at Binladen Group – a major construction firm in Saudi Arabia, set fire to nine company buses in protest over thousands of sackings and unpaid salaries. They had staged several demonstrations within Saudi Arabia’s Mecca region in recent weeks, with some workers claiming they have not received their wages after months of unpaid labour.

To fuel their anger more, a report emerged that the company which was established by the father of former al-Qaeda leader – Osama Bin laden, had laid off 50,000 foreign employees and issued them exit visas, justifying reports that the company is in $30 billion worth of debt due to falling oil prices.

Spokesperson for Mecca’s Civil Defense Major Nayef al-Sharif said no injuries were caused by the fires started by the workers, and that firefighters had put out it all. The company on the other hand, has not yet issued a statement about the protest, nor responded to accusations made against them by employees.

Video credit: UK Independent