A shocking new documentary has claimed that over 21,000 people have died during the construction of Saudi Arabian mega projects.
One of the most well-known mega projects in the region is known as ‘The Line’, a new city that is one long straight line.
It is hoped that The Line will eventually be 110 miles long and will stretch all the way from the Red Sea to the city of Tabuk.
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However, a new ITV documentary has claimed that thousands of workers have reportedly died or gone missing during the construction of several Saudi Arabian projects.
In the doc, which is titled Kingdom Uncovered: Inside Saudi Arabia, it’s claimed that over 21,000 foreign workers have died during constructions as part of the Saudi vision 2030 project, which includes The Line.
LADbible Group has contacted the Public Investment Fund, which manages the Vision 2030 projects, and NEOM for a comment but as of writing they have not responded.
In the report by ITV, workers described themselves under the working conditions as ‘trapped slaves’ and ‘beggars’.
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There have also been allegations of wage theft, illegal working hours and human rights abuses.
One devastating case in the documentary was of a Nepalese worker named Raju Bishwakarma who called his friends and family asking for help.
He allegedly said: “Please rescue me.”
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He was later found dead in his room after being told that he would need to pay a fine of around five months’ salary in order to leave.
The Line is the biggest of the Saudi Vision 2030 projects, which has cost $500 billion.
As of 2022, the NEOM construction is underway, with excavation happening along the whole length of the project.
It is hoped that the first section of The Line, which is 1.5 miles long, will be finished by 2030 and will house around 300,000 people.
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The Line will be split into 135 different connected communities called modules.
It is set to be a city powered entirely by renewable energy and will house around nine million residents.
However, reports say that more than 200,000 Indigenous people were forcefully removed from the region to make way for NEOM.
In a statement made to ITV, NEOM said it was investigating the claims that had been made and that it requires its contractors to follow rules based on both Saudi laws and international labor organization standards.