ABHA, 22 July 2006 — This is perhaps not the best way to open a locked door. The daily Al-Watan reported yesterday that an old Saudi man called his local fire department and reported that his granddaughter was locked in one of the rooms in his house. The rescue workers rushed to the scene and broke down the door, whereupon the old man shuffled over to a cabinet in the room and retrieved some papers. The firemen looked around for a little girl to no avail. The man explained that he called in the report because he couldn’t get into the room, and he figured the best way to do so was to call in a false report to the local rescue team. The firemen were not amused, and made their own call to authorities. The man was arrested and charged with calling in a false alarm.
