JEDDAH, 13 November 2004 — An accident involving a fully loaded sewage tanker on Madinah Road, just south of Tahlia Street, blocked traffic in both directions for several hours yesterday evening.
Emergency personnel brought in a crane to lift the truck which lay partly across the center-divide, straddling two lanes in both the southbound and northbound carriageways.
The accident, in which no one was injured, occurred at about eight o’clock in the evening as people began to come out to prepare for Eid.
Those not immediately near the accident, but caught in the resulting backup, chose to exit in order to use the backroads, which they also found congested with other motorists caught in the same predicament.
Police would not comment on the cause of the accident, but simply stated that the driver lost control.
The truck, which was on its side, was leaking its load of fecal matter into the planted area between the northbound and southbound lanes.
The smell of fuel filled the air as gasoline also poured out from the damaged tanker. Onlookers just a few meters away were concerned that a spark from the heavy machinery used for the truck’s recovery could start a fire.
The question: “Where is the Fire Department?” was asked by the concerned bystanders as one policeman stood by with a single extinguisher in the event the tanker caught fire.
Several bystanders were aware of this danger and chose to keep what they believed was a safe distance.
One man told Arab News: “If this thing catches fire, a lot of people are going to get hurt. This is an accident. Shouldn’t the Civil Defense be here?”
