JEDDAH: Amer Ahmad did not think that the first thing he would do after recovering from a serious car accident would be to look for the SR10,000 and other personal belongings that were in the car with him.

“I was on the way to the bank when I was involved in a car accident. I remember people trying to help me before I became unconscious. I then woke up in hospital,” said Ahmad.

“It seems some people take advantage of car crashes and take the belongings of the dead and injured. Some come immediately when the accident happens. Others come to search the cars after the victims are removed from the scene,” he added.

The problem is widespread. Relatives who come to claim the bodies of their dead relatives or come to see their loved ones in hospital often find cash and valuables they were carrying missing.

The authorities, when asked, blame different departments. The Traffic Police say their role is to secure locations and investigate accidents without getting involved with those injured or killed. Paramedics, meanwhile, say their job is to take the injured to hospital and the dead to morgues. Both say safekeeping the property of victims is not their job.

Ibraheem Muhammad, a Saudi national, was in a GMC on the expressway with his father and brother driving. “The front tire burst as we drove at high speed. This resulted in my brother losing control of the car, which rolled over several times before coming to a complete stop on the side of the road,” he said, adding that a car with four Saudi youths pulled up immediately.

“My father thought they had come to help, instead they rummaged through our belongings and pockets looking for valuables. They didn’t even bother to see whether we were alive or dead,” he said, adding that his brother and father were seriously injured while his own legs and ribs were broken.

“They were trying to steal whatever they could before another car pulled over, and before the police and paramedics arrived. Sadly, my brother died several hours later in hospital,” he added.

Abdul Azeem Hassan also had a similar experience when his mother and three sisters died in a crash some 100 km from Madinah one month ago. “A fourth sister was seriously injured. She as well as others were wearing gold jewelry at the time of accident. But when we went to claim the bodies we found that all the jewelry had been removed,” he said.

“I didn’t pay attention to it at the time because the loss was bigger than caring about the jewelry. A traffic police officer later told us that when the bodies were placed in ambulances the jewelry was still on their arms. Meanwhile, the paramedics said they simply took the bodies to the morgue and did not touch anything. Finally, officials at the morgue denied there was any jewelry when the bodies arrived. We’re unsure when the jewelry was taken,” he said, adding that his mother and sisters’ cell phones were also not recovered.

Another story of a Sudanese national who died four months ago in a car accident in the Bani Malek district of Jeddah is told through his brother Mustapha. “My brother Hashim died in a car accident. He was carrying SR1,200 which he was going to spend on groceries. After two days at the hospital morgue and after finishing the needed paperwork, we received his body and belongings,” he said.

“The money was not there. When we asked the hospital about the money, they told us that they did not receive any cash,” he added.

Dr. Hussein Ghannam, deputy assistant for health affairs for Haj and Umrah, said the Saudi Red Crescent, which transports those injured or killed in car accidents, has a standard procedure to document the belongings of those they carry. “Once they reach the hospital, they sign another joint document with the hospital that they have delivered the patient or dead person and his or her belongings,” he added.

Fatima Al-Refaie, a specialist in psychology at Al-Amal Hospital in Jeddah, said that there is a difference in committing crimes in normal circumstances and crimes committed when something tragic occurs.

“Either way, the perpetrators have no conscience. Such people think that the stuff they find in car accidents are not going to be used by the dead and so it is theirs to claim,” she said.