JEDDAH: A number of bodies of victims of the Jeddah floods have been found in lakes in Quwaizah district after the water dried, a spokesman for the Civil Defense Brig. Muhammad bin Abdullah Al-Qarni said on Monday. He said the number of people missing now stands at 30 while the number of dead is 123.
Al-Qarni said two bodies in the morgue had finally been identified as the son and daughter of Ali bin Qutain Al-Otaibi, a Saudi citizen. He said some human remains had been washed out of east Jeddah during the floods and it was not known whether they were of people who died in the floods or from bodies that had been buried in cemeteries in the area earlier.
Al-Qarni said the remains were handed over to the police to complete identification procedures using DNA tests. He, however, believes that the remains were of those who died and were buried before the floods.
Director of Civil Defense in Jeddah Brig. Abdullah Al-Jeddawi reiterated that the search for missing persons will be intensified and that a new search plan would be put into practice during the coming two weeks.
“The search teams have been working with great dedication since a number of missing bodies have recently been dug out from lakes in Quwaizah,” he said.
Brig. Al-Qarni said out of a total of 3,472 homes inspected by 20 technical committees, 2,823 were found to be suitable for accommodation while the remaining 649 were found to be unsuitable.
He said the Ministry of Finance was still continuing to pay the cost of living and accommodation for the second phase. “A total of 9,341 families have benefited from these funds,” he added.
He also said 10,785 homes, damaged by the rains and the floods, had been evaluated and that the ministry would begin paying compensation to their owners for them from Saturday, Feb. 20. “The payment will be by checks to be given to 200 individuals every day at the headquarters of the Civil Defense in Al-Sharafiyah district,” he added.
Al-Qarni explained that the compensation to be paid to the building owners will be for damaged utilities, doors, entrances, and sanitation and electric connections. The owners will also be compensated for damaged furniture, electric equipment, rugs, clothes and books.
The compensation will be for the 10,785 homes so far evaluated, he said, adding that 15 field committees would assess the value of the 9,900 damaged vehicles.
Meanwhile, the emergency maintenance center of the Technical and Vocational Training Board in Makkah has repaired 485 homes of both citizens and foreigners in Jeddah.
