MADINAH: Rakan Awad Al-Anzi, 17, was electrocuted when he traversed a makeshift metal bridge over a construction ditch shortly after Friday’s deluge.
“How can a responsible company leave the electric wires uncovered on a steel sheet that people will be walking on while crossing the bridge?” asked Rakan’s father fighting tears.
He told Arab News that his grief over his dead son would not hamper him from filing a complaint against the company for neglecting safety arrangements and also against the municipality for failure to supervise the company.
“I strongly believe in fate. I am aware that Allah destined the death of my son; however Allah taught us man’s life is precious and valuable and should not be wasted. He asked us to take precautions and be vigilant. So I will be suing both the company and the mayoralty for negligence and irresponsibility,” Awad Al-Anzi said.
Ibrahim, Rakan’s eldest brother, said taking the matter to court would not contradict their belief in destiny. “Justice has to be established,” he said.
His second brother Abdullah said he lived and worked outside Madinah and had been longing to see Rakan. “I did not know that I would be called to bury him instead of seeing him alive,” he said.
He said Rakan was the closest to him among all his brothers. He supported the family’s position of taking the matter to the concerned authorities.
“Those who caused the death of my brother by leaving the naked electric wires over the bridge must be penalized,” he added.
Ahmed Al-Haddad, a lifelong friend and neighbor of Rakan, said they were studying together when the call for Isha prayer was made.
“We decided to perform our prayers at the Prophet’s Mosque and come back to continue our studies but it seems fate was faster than us. Rakan didn’t come back with me and I have lost him forever,” he said.
Narrating the story of the unexpected death of his friend, Al-Haddad said they were walking over the bridge enjoying the nice weather that followed the rain when Rakan suddenly lost a sandal. He went back bare footed over the steel sheet to retrieve it and it was then that he was electrocuted.
“I heard him cry, and I rushed toward him,” said Al-Haddad. “I found him lying on the iron sheet. When I touched him, I was pushed back by electric shock. We could not do anything until someone came and switched off the power supply for the whole area. When we finally took Rakan he was breathing rapidly. He died a few seconds later.
Eyewitnesses said an employee of the company tried to change the wires before the arrival of the police but residents prevented him from doing so. The police sealed off the area and the body was taken to the morgue.
The name of the company that is allegedly responsible for the accident is being withheld.
