Many of these abandoned wells are located in desert areas, are unmarked and do not even have fences to warn passersby. Small quarries in deserts dug for sand and rock to build nearby roads are also particular hotspots of tragedy, especially following heavy rains when they fill up.

Saudi citizen Sultan Al-Harby feels it is the responsibility of owners who neglect to fill these wells and quarries, or in the least set up fences.

“The Civil Defense is also to blame for not keeping a watch on wells across the Kingdom. It should, in collaboration with rural authorities, force the owners of wells to fill them up, or construct strong fences around them, or punish those who neglect to do so,” said Al-Harby.

On Friday, a jeep carrying two men nearly fell into an abandoned well in Al-Ais in Madinah province. A fragile fence stopped the vehicle short of nose-diving into the well. The driver and his companion were injured. People in the area say there are 24 abandoned wells in that area threatening the lives of people and animals.

Rescuers from the Civil Defense have been battling since Sunday night to rescue a woman who became trapped in a 50-meter-deep well near the mountainous town of Shenaif, northeast of Taif. The woman is thought to have fallen so deep inside that the rescue team could not even pinpoint her exact position.

Meanwhile, a laboratory examination of some hairs recovered from the 40 cm diameter well confirmed the presence of a person inside.

In another accident, an 18-year-old boy drowned in a waterlogged pit close to the Madinah-Yanbu Highway at Badr on Friday. The pit was three meters deep and 150 square meters wide.

Faisal Al-Buqami, a Saudi resident, said a man recently drowned in a huge pit that had been dug to collect sand and stones for the construction of the Madinah-Qassim Highway. “After the project was over, the contractor failed to fill the pit or construct a wall to protect animals and pedestrians from falling into it. Neither did the authorities take any steps to make the contractor construct a wall,” he said.

“The man slipped and fell inside. By the time Civil Defense arrived he had died,” he added.

Two youths in their 20s drowned in a well in the town of Qusair in Al-Hanakiya last year because the cover of the well was fragile and could not hold their weight, said Naif Al-Harbi, a resident of Qusair. He also blamed the Civil Defense for not taking any steps to deal with abandoned wells.

On the other hand, a Civil Defense source said there are special committees with members representing the governors’ offices, the police and local municipalities to take care of abandoned wells across the Kingdom.

“The committee is responsible for discovering abandoned or dangerous wells and taking steps to fill them up or build proper fences around them,” he said.