BELQARN, 24 May — With the news of the monkey-man wreaking havoc in New Delhi grabbing world headlines, girl students in the southern Saudi village of Belqarn were in the grip of another horror — being besieged by monkeys. The students lived for days in perpetual fear after their school compound, located on a hill, was stormed by a group of monkeys.
The monkeys scaled the three-meter high compound wall after the tea break hoping to scrounge for leftovers. Panic and pandemonium reigned in the school when the students, especially those in the primary section, saw the monkeys making themselves at home in the school compound.
Teachers, administrators and the students all rushed to safety as the guard of the school and his wife tried to restore calm and bring the situation back to normal. They, along with some hands working in a new school project in the neighborhood, were successful in shooing away the unwelcome crowd which had sowed panic.
Barakat Al-Qarni, the school guard, told Arab News that the monkeys invariably made their way to the school during tea break every day, not to enhance their knowledge but to seek out the leftovers from the garbage cans located about 300 meters from the school. On this given day, when the monkeys found the cans empty, they entered the school with the compound walls proving no deterrence.
“We generally see the monkeys in the hilly areas and along the streets in this southern region, which is replete with bushes thanks to heavy rains. But this is the first time we have seen the monkeys climbing the school walls, and creating mischief,” he added.
