Interior Minister Prince Ahmed and Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal offered condolences to the families of the 10 drowned people in the flashfloods that hit parts of Rabigh Sunday night. Civil Defense Chief Lt. Gen. Saad Al-Tuwaijeri conveyed the condolences of Prince Ahmed and Prince Khaled to the families in a tour to the affected areas on Monday.
A huge crowd of mourners attended the burial services of the victims in Tamaya village, 35 km east of Rabigh governorate in the Makkah province.
All 10 people died while they were attempting to cross the valley, and 25 people were trapped in the Wadi Hijr close to the site of drowning.
Senior citizens in the village said the tragedy is a repeat of a flashflood that hit the area 25 years ago killing three local residents, Al-Madinah daily reported yesterday.
They complained that they had been demanding construction of a bridge across the valley for many years.
According to eyewitnesses, the flashflood and the deaths occurred in a few minutes, during which many cars were carried away by the powerful currents caused by the heavy rains on hills east of the region.
Until mid-noon on Monday, Civil Defense officials retrieved 10 dead bodies including an eight-year-old boy and 42 year-old woman from the floods.
Civil Defense in Makkah province sent four rescue teams to Rabigh on receiving reports of heavy downpour and flashfloods at 10:20 p.m. on Sunday, according to the Civil Defense spokesman in Makkah province Lt. Col. Saeed Serhan.
A relative of the dead said Civil Defense teams arrived at the location only an hour after the floods carried away people, and by then, local people and passing-by motorists had come to the rescue of the people trapped in cars. He said bodies of the victims were moved to Rabigh hospital in cars of some citizens because of the delay in the arrival of concerned authorities.
Two local workers, Ahmed Al-Biladi and Obaidullah Batti, were marked for their death-defying deeds to rescue 30 people who were being carried away by powerful currents.
“On hearing the heart-rending wails from the flooded valley, I rushed with Batti in my mini truck. I saved 30 people including 15 children and seven women, the newspaper quoted Al-Biladi as saying.
“In the end, a man suddenly appeared before me saying that his child just slipped from his hands and the flood carried him away. He said he left his family in the car near the flood. But by the time we reached that place, the flood had carried that car too. I lost control of my truck in the rising water and I climbed over to its top. In the powerful currents I lost my balance and tripped to be carried away downstream. About 500 meters away, I was held by a low-lying tree branch. I hung there for some time — I don’t know how long I clung to it — until finally some people came with a rope and saved me.”
He said he was happy because he could save a number of women and children, although he had lost his truck in the flood.
A boy was electrocuted in the rain in Madinah on Monday. Civil Defense helicopters rescued two stranded men in the east of Madinah, Civil Defense spokesman Lt. Col. Bandar Al-Ahmedi said.
Heavy showers were also experienced in Al-Ola, Khaibar and Yanbu in Madinah province on Sunday, although no calamities have been reported. Yanbu also had a four-hour power outage following the rains.
10 Rabigh drowning victims laid to rest
