TAIF: Workers of a construction company in Taif discovered a graveyard as they dug up a road to lay electricity cables, Al-Jazirah newspaper reported yesterday.
Workers were shocked to find human bones and skulls at the site to the east of the Abdullah bin Abbas Mosque in Taif. It appears that the road was part of the Al-Shuhada cemetery.
Workers stopped digging and the company’s management was then notified. The management asked the workers to disregard the bones and continue digging.
But worshippers at the mosque informed the imam, who ordered the work to be halted until a religious ruling was issued. The imam also notified the municipal authorities of the discovery.
A construction worker told Al-Jazirah that it seems the road was built on parts of the cemetery. Eyewitnesses said many of the bones were crushed under heavy machinery.
According to scholar Sheikh Abdullah bin Jibreen, it is unlawful to dig out graves and build roads on their sites.
Sheikh Jibreen said cars should not be allowed to drive over graveyards because the dignity of the dead should be preserved like that of the living. If an abandoned cemetery was discovered it should be fenced off and protected, the scholar added.
