JEDDAH, 5 November — Police in Afif, 400 km west of Riyadh, rescued 10 women teachers after they were stranded in the desert late on Saturday night, Al-Watan reported yesterday. The teachers of the girls’ school in Al-Gharba town were taken deep into the desert because the driver lost his way in the heavy rains and wind.
Police and civil defense were alerted when the teachers did not arrive home in the evening. After several hours of scouring the desert region the missing people were found in 90 km away from Afif. Police found them in sound health, though they looked tired and frightened.
Since their regular car was in the workshop, a colleague’s husband was driving the car which broke down on the way while they were returning home from school. He did not know which direction to go in the poor weather. From 1.30 p.m till 2 a.m the women were sitting in the car. Hanan Hussein, the principal of the school, said after the car had gone 10 km from the school the driver had lost the way and reached the lonely desert. In the heavy rains and wind they went deep into the desert when the teachers began to scream. Finally it was about 2 a.m when the rescue team arrived.
