Saudi Arabian prince Mansour Bin Muqrin was killed in a helicopter crash near the kingdom’s southern border with war-torn Yemen on Sunday. The accident happened when the helicopter carrying prince Mansour Bin Muqrin and other regional officials were returning from a regular inspection tour.
The officials spent most of the day inspecting a number coastal projects west of Abha city, the report, quoting a ministry of interior spokesman.
“While returning in the evening of the same day, contact with the plane was lost in the vicinity of the Reda reserve,” the report said.
The prince was the son of Muqrin bin Abdulaziz Al Saud – who was the crown prince of Saudi Arabia from January to April in 2015.
It did not reveal the cause of the crash or the fate of the other officials aboard the aircraft. Bin Marquin was deputy governor of the region of Asir, where the crash occurred.
Bin Marquin’s death came on the heels of a sweeping crackdown that led to the arrests of dozens of Saudi princes and former ministers on the order of King Salman. Moreover this weekend, an anti-corruption purge targeted dozens of people, including 11 princes and four ministers, in a move seen to cement the power of the heir to the throne.
The anti-corruption body is led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
