In their criticism of the Civil Defense, the men’s families claim it were the people of Al-Leeth who actually found the four men’s bodies, Al-Madinah newspaper reported.

Muhammad Al-Barakati, father of one of the four men, is now calling for an investigation. “The Civil Defense helicopter arrived one day after their help was requested for the search and operation. The helicopter hovered around for one hour before leaving the area,” said Muhammad.

“When we made the request, only four Civil Defense members turned up and they all had very little equipment. They asked for the police’s help to search for the missing bodies and only used flashlights … why were they not ready to carry out such a complex operation?” he added.

“If it weren’t for the residents of Al-Leeth, then who would’ve helped find the four bodies. Not the Civil Defense for sure.”

Ahmad Al-Barakati, the uncle of one of the dead men, said he was shocked to learn that none of the Civil Defense members who showed up were divers and could not even swim.

“They did not even have proper equipment. They had basically come to watch someone trapped in a flood until he died. One of them even shouted to one man who was trapped to stay put. What was he to do? Stay there till he drowns? We couldn’t believe such a statement could come from a Civil Defense official,” said Ahmad.

He added that they came 10 meters from saving his nephew but were unable to reach him and watched him get swept away.

“We reported the floods to the Civil Defense. They sent a helicopter 24 hours later. The pilot of the helicopter circled the area twice and then headed to Jeddah. He didn’t even meet us to allow us to show him where he could search and where the bodies could be found. He just showed up to show us that he had done something,” he said.

Saeed Al-Fahmi, the relative of two men who drowned in Wadi Al-Rawdah, also blamed the Civil Defense for not trying hard. “After hours of calling the Civil Defense, only two members in a poor car without any equipment showed up. They did not find the bodies. It was us that found them. They should increase their numbers and provide them with proper modern equipment,” he added.

However, hitting back at the claims, Col. Turki Al-Harthi, head of the Civil Defense in Al-Leeth, described them as false. “We realize the magnitude of the disaster that struck the area and our efforts could be widely seen. We received many calls and we attended to all of them professionally. We have more than 100 Civil Defense workers in the area, unlike the 40 that some people are claiming. All of them participated in the rescue operation,” said Al-Harthi.