A number of citizens worked to recover the body of Muhammad Al-Lohaibi from the rugged mountaintop in Dalama village on the outskirts of the city.

Al-Lohaibi, 48, was found dead last Friday after going out to collect honey in the company of his friends, Al-Madinah daily reported.

Relatives and friends of Al-Lohaibi have complained that Civil Defense officials did not take action when they informed them about the incident. They allege the department sent only two members and that was after they contacted them several times.

The Civil Defense did not send any helicopters to collect the body from the mountaintop, they said, adding that this forced the victim’s relatives to seek the support of 15 volunteers and five workers to climb up the steep mountain and carry down the body on a stretcher on their shoulders before taking it to the local hospital.

The relatives expressed surprise over claims from Civil Defense officials that they had sent two full units to recover the body. They urged Civil Defense authorities to make available air ambulances and emergency units in such situations.

Talie Roymathan, Al-Lohaibi’s cousin, told Al-Madinah that Muhammad went with him and two other relatives to collect honey from Dalama. They were separated while collecting honey. Muhammad contacted his relatives to tell them that he would join them in the valley two hours later.

“When we didn’t hear from Muhammad after that, we climbed up the mountain again in search of him. We found him dead on the mountaintop. Immediately we sought the help of the Civil Defense. They sent only two people and an ambulance from Yutama village,” Roymathan said.

Mubarak Al-Lohaibi, another relative in the group, said Muhammad was in good health. He worked as a schoolteacher at the Thaniyyat Al-Widaa area on the outskirts of the city.