JEDDAH, 14 May 2006 — A collapsed sewage line in southeast Jeddah yesterday claimed the life of at least one Sudanese worker. Another worker, also from Sudan, was alive but still trapped under the rubble last night.

Hadi Salem Muhsin, a Yemeni worker who was also trapped when a hole the three men were digging collapsed on top of them, managed to free himself from death’s grip by wiggling through a sewage pipe to safety.

The accident occurred when the southern edge of a 15-meter-wide hole being dug on Kilo 10 of the Old Makkah Road collapsed.

Muhsin was operating a trencher when he saw one of the two men partially buried by the rubble. A second collapse occurred as Muhsin was trying to dig the man out.

Rescue workers and eyewitness said that Muhsin managed to enter a sewage pipe that was being laid after the second collapse. He crawled his way out exiting from the other side with only minor bruises. He then went to the trencher to help out in the rescue of the other trapped workers.

“It’s God’s will that I am alive,” Muhsin told Arab News. “My time has not come and there is still more work to be done.”

Col. Muhammad Al-Ghamdi, head of the Civil Defense in Jeddah, said that the surviving worker is visible and paramedics have been able to give him care as they excavate him from the rubble.

Rescuers had not yet found the other worker, but Al-Ghamdi said he is presumed to be dead and the focus is on getting the survivor out of the rubble.

“It is a very delicate situation. We will take the time necessary to get him out alive,” he said.

The head of the Civil Defense then blamed the contractor.

“They are fully responsible for this incident and they will be prosecuted,” he said.

This is the second fatal collapse of its kind this year after work started on a major expansion of Jeddah’s sewage system. On Feb. 15 two workers died in a similar accident.

“We have sat down and met with construction companies and municipal officials and explained to them the importance of safety,” said Al-Ghamdi. “Any violator of the safety requirements will be subjected to serious penalties.”