While he was trying to cross the street next to the Foreign Ministry building he was hit by a car and killed instantly. He was transported to the Riyadh medical compound by the car that hit him, according to eyewitnesses. A guard from the ministry accompanied the body.
What happened to this man after he was killed exacerbated that tragic incident: His body was put in the hospital morgue and forgotten.
And this victim wasn’t just anyone. He was found with a diplomatic passport at the time of the accident in addition to his ID and banking cards.
His family began searching for him after he disappeared. They found his car parked near the Foreign Ministry but no sign of him. They were told by one of the guards about the accident. The victim’s sons began searching all hospitals until they found him late at night in the hospital morgue.
The tragedy continued when the traffic department issued a statement saying that they notified the family after the accident and offered their condolence.
According to the family, they received no such notice. One of the victim’s sons was even held, though temporarily, for speeding. He explained that he was in a panic to find his father.
Why did the traffic official claim that he contacted the man’s family to report the accident?
There are procedures that the traffic department should follow in these cases. It did not follow these procedures and instead departments began finger pointing.
This raises the question that how many dead people we have in our morgues yet to be identified. What is the procedure for unidentified people at the traffic department?
The department should have made it easy for the son to get to his father instead of holding him for hours at the station. They should have contacted hospitals to help find the father instead of wasting the son’s time.
What is the benefit of the mountain of official documentation if the traffic department cannot figure out where an accident victim lives?
These questions will not bring the man to life but it will answer serious questions regarding how the traffic department treats people, dead or alive.
