JEDDAH, 23 June — Twenty-seven people, all of them Saudis, were hospitalized for food poisoning in Riyadh on Thursday after they had taken Shawarma from a city restaurant.
Al-Jazira newspaper said in a report yesterday that police had sealed the Al-Towfeer Rastaurant and arrested its workers for questioning.
Hasan Al-Amry said seven members of his family were admitted to Prince Salman Hospital after they complained of extreme stomach pain and diarrhea.
He said they fell sick after eating Shawarma at the restaurant. Abdullah Ajeebi, a visitor from Dammam, said he took Shawarma for dinner from the restaurant and soon after had strong stomach pain.
Dr. Osama Hamid, director of the hospital, said the first cases of food poisoning arrived at 9.30 a.m. Thursday.
A number of doctors and nurses were called in to the emergency room to deal with the situation when the numbers went up by afternoon. “The condition of patients is stable,” Hamid said, adding that there were no complications.
Body found
Meanwhile, a dismembered body of an unidentified man, believed to be an expatriate, was found in an mountainous area in Humaira near the border city of Jizan on Wednesday, press reports said yesterday.
The Okaz Arabic newspaper said a shepherd while rearing sheep in the area east of Humaira discovered the body. “He saw the body while trying to find out the source of a stench,” the paper said.
Police officials sent to the area for a preliminary inquiry said they suspected that either a thunderbolt or snakebite might have killed the man several days ago.
They found a wand, a water-can, a pair of shoes, a piece of cloth and some cash.
The body was taken to the mortuary of King Fahd Hospital in Jizan in the presence of Brig. Eshky Al-Otaiby of the criminal investigation department. Aridha police have launched an investigation, the paper said.
