BAQAA, 13 August — A 25-year-old Saudi from the Assulaimy family was found dead by security officers in the desert on Saturday after a weeklong search.
A team from the civil defense, patrol police and the criminal investigation unit confirmed that the man had died of thirst, Okaz reported.
Assulaimy was on an outing with his family to Atana and Akhdar valleys in the Tabuk region.
After reaching the area, the family went out to see the sites and asked the youth to stay behind and look after their belongings.
“When the family returned, they could not find him. They made a fire to help the man find his way back during the night. But he did not return. They later searched for him everywhere before informing the police,” the Arabic paper said.
Six jeeps, a helicopter and several security officers were involved in the search, which lasted for seven days.
The youth was planning to celebrate his wedding after winning the consent of a Tabuk family to marry one of their daughters.
In a separate incident in Hafr Al-Baten, a Saudi youth aged 18 drowned in the swimming pool of a hotel on Friday.
The teenager drowned because he did not know how to swim properly. There were several people in the pool, but none of them were able to rescue him. It is the second such mishap in the same pool.
Meanwhile, a viper attacked a group of Saudi youngsters on Friday while they were resting close to Baqaa.
One of the youths eventually managed to kill the snake.
Various poisonous snakes are emerging from their hideouts because of the high temperatures and health officials have urged the public to be on their guard.
Zaid Al-Barrak, who killed the snake, said it attacked the group of boys while they were relaxing on a hillside.
The viper is one of the most venomous snakes and its bite may kill a person. In Saudi Arabia, it exists mostly in Hail and the Empty Quarter.
