JEDDAH: Residents in Jeddah districts badly affected by the recent rains and floods have complained about the bad smell from rotting bodies buried in debris, cars and other hard-to-reach places.
The residents, located in the south and east of the city, expressed fears that if left undiscovered, the bodies might cause epidemics and other health hazards. They added the dignity of the dead lies in his quick burial, quoting Prophet Muhammad’s (peace be upon him) Hadith.
Sari Ahmad Al-Harithy, a resident of the eastern district of Quwaizah, said the rotten smell was not only worrying but also scaring off his family. “My family feels terrorized and I am worried,” he said.
Al-Harithy said he and a number of other volunteers were trying to locate the dead bodies to help relevant government departments recover and bury them. He called on the Civil Defense to use modern equipment when looking for the missing instead of the primitive methods they are allegedly using now due to the potentially large numbers of dead people and because the affected area is too big.
Resident of Al-Muntazahat district Abdullah Aiydth Al-Nikhali, believed that decomposing bodies were the cause of bad smells in their quarters. “Many of my friends lost a number of relatives who might be dead and buried,” he said.
An official source at the Civil Defense did not rule out the possibility of finding bodies in unknown places. “Many of the corpses were discovered by accident when we were making a routine search of the affected areas,” he said.
He explained that they were using hearing devices in their search to uncover survivors but added they were not good enough for discovering bodies.
The source also said many of the wrecked cars could have bodies inside them. “Many drivers left their cars and ran for their lives when they saw the floods but many others could not so they were washed away,” he said.
