“The Ambulance Was Late and the Patients Died” was the headline that drew my attention to a front-page story that was recently in one of our newspapers. The story, including pictures, involved a mother, her daughter and seven others, all victims of a terrible traffic accident at a main intersection outside Makkah.
The mother and daughter were left to bleed to death because the ambulance carrying the Red Crescent Society paramedics took too long to arrive at the scene and provide the urgently required medical care.
This is one of countless tragedies taking place on our highways and city streets almost every day which result in many deaths and injuries. Some may think that the reports of traffic accidents appearing in the papers are exaggeration because reporters like to add spice to a small accident and make it look like a major tragedy. When the report is substantiated by pictures, this leaves no one in any doubt that what they read and see is actually happening on our streets.
Why are the ambulances always late? Who is responsible for this gross negligence? Who is responsible for the absence of safety measures along the highways and who should be held accountable for the endless loss of lives?
I began asking these questions after reading the report and several weeks later, I am still waiting for answers. Since the accident took place, no one seems to have moved to investigate and tell us who was to blame. Each time we read about an accident, more questions are added to the hundreds of unanswered ones.
I want to appeal to officials, particularly those connected with that particular incident, to consider what was said by the witnesses who were there when the accident took place. They should also interview the employee of the nearby desalination plant who was present too. If what these people have said is true, then the officials should tell us why they have done nothing for so long while that dangerous intersection is left to cause more and more deaths.
The sight of blood and body parts littering the street and of the agonizing cries and suffering of the injured should continue to haunt all those who were at the scene. To the officials of the highway patrol, the Red Crescent, the highway security and others: Please open a new investigation into that accident and punish everyone found to be negligent. Take the appropriate measures to make our roads safer.
