Were commission members at fire tragedy impostors?

MAKKAH, 14 March — The Civil Defense Department has prepared an official report which casts doubt on whether the members of the Commission for Promoting Virtue and Preventing Vice who allegedly played a role in hampering rescue operation at the fire-hit Makkah girls’ school were really members of the organization.

Civil Defense officers who took part in the rescue operation pointed out that they were surprised to see the commission members guarding the school’s main gate, preventing the girls from leaving the building.

When the department’s officers tried to convince them to make way for the rescue work, the alleged commission members quarreled with them. “They intentionally obstructed the efforts to evacuate the girls. This resulted in the increased number of casualties,” the report said.

The officers said the commission’s members forced the girls to stay inside under the pretense that they were not wearing abayas (black gowns) and head-scarves. They also refused to allow Civil Defense officers to enter the building.

In the end, the department’s officers had to use force to keep the commission’s members away from the area and help the girls get out of the building quickly.

“We told them that the situation was dangerous and it was not the time to discuss religious issues, but they refused and started shouting at us,” the officers told Arab News.

Witnesses also said that the commission members forced the girls leaving the school premises to go back, creating more confusion.

“Whenever the girls got out through the main gate, these people forced them to return via another,” the Civil Defense men said.

“Instead of extending a helping hand for the rescue work, they were using their hands to beat us,” the officers complained.

They said they saw three people beating the girls for leaving the building without wearing abayas.

Abdullah Bahadik, a shop owner near the school, said he was the first to enter the building along with the guard to rescue the girls.

He was also carrying a fire extinguisher from his shop. “At that time, the situation was horrific. We saw girls piled up one on the other on the staircase,” he said.