Contractor of Qatraneh mosque could be referred to prosecutor over collapsed minaret

AMMAN — The Awqaf Ministry on Saturday called for referring the contractor that supervised the Mohammad Bin Ayed Mosque project to the prosecutor general after the mosque’s minaret collapsed last week, according to official sources. 

The mosque, located in Karak’s Qatraneh area, some 85km south of Amman, was closed to worshippers in order to ensure public safety. 

An official from the Awqaf Ministry told The Jordan Times that the ministry will request that the contractor be referred to the prosecutor general as the collapse could be due to failure to comply with engineering planning and requirements.

The official noted that the ministry was not involved in the construction of the mosque as the man who donated money to build it had selected the contractor.

Awqaf Minister Hayel Dawood was unavailable to comment on the issue.

In the meantime, many Jordanian social media users expressed their anger over the incident. 

Abdelhadi Madadha (@abdelhadikh) said another project could have been constructed in the area instead of a mosque, since there are several good mosques there.

“[It] is a really big mosque and it could have been... a school or a small hospital,” he tweeted. 

Al Arabi (@ArabiMogttareb) expressed surprise over the incident.

“It was built only four months ago and they say that it collapsed because of weather conditions!”