Saudi Prince Mansour bin Muqrin was killed on Sunday when a helicopter with several officials on board crashed near the kingdom’s southern border with war-torn Yemen, state television said.
The Middle East Eye said that the crash happened near the border with Yemen as the Saudi Prince attempted to flee the country.
Prince Mansour was the son of Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz, a former intelligence chief who was crown prince between January and April 2015, when he was pushed aside by Prince Mohammed’s father, King Salman, now 81.
The incident happened hours after a major purge of Saudi political and business leaders was launched by Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, in a bid to consolidate his power grab.
The newly established, anti-corruption committee, headed by Mohammed Bin Salman himself, has dismissed a number of senior ministers and detained nearly a dozen princes.
Among those affected by the purge, the national guard minister and senior member of the Royal family Mutaib bin Abdullah who was arrested along with his brother Turki.
Famous multi-billionaire prince Al-Waleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz and a number of former ministers and businessmen were also reportedly arrested.
Also among the arrested were Waleed al-Ibrahim, founder of the MBC broadcasting group, and billionaire businessman Saleh Kamel.
