RIYADH, 13 March 2003 — One person was killed and five others were injured when a two-story building under construction collapsed on Tuesday night in the Mursalat area of northern Riyadh.
Brig. Mesfer Al-Goayed, director-general of civil defense, said the workers were engaged in the construction of the roof when it came down “owing to bad execution”. He said the dead person’s nationality was not known. The injured were from Egypt, Pakistan and India.
Speaking to Arab News on the phone, Dr. Mohammed Al-Mishary, vice president of Abdulrahman Al-Mishary Hospital and head of the emergency team, said 55 doctors and 100 nurses as well as paramedics were deployed for the treatment of patients under Code Yellow.
He said one of the patients who had suffered a fracture in the skull and a broken spine had started to go into a state of paralysis.
However, timely surgical intervention by a team of five doctors, two neurosurgeons, two orthopedists and one anesthetist helped him to recover. “He could have been paralyzed, as 80 percent of cases in such a situation end up in paralysis.
“But, thank God, he’s recovering and has started moving his legs. It was a dangerous but successful operation that lasted seven hours.”
In another case, Dr. Mishary said, the victim had fractured ribs and a tear in the lung. A team of surgeons attended on him. The patient, a Pakistani, is on the way to recovery. The third had concussion in the brain and lacerations in his face. Of the three, two may be discharged soon, while one is still in the intensive care unit. Dr. Mishary said coordination among the Red Crescent, the Ministry of Health and his own hospital was excellent. The other two patients are under treatment in the Al-Hammady Hospital.
It is the second time in recent years that a building under construction in Riyadh had collapsed.
Three years ago, an accident occurred in the Kingdom Tower when part of the scaffolding came down. However, the injured workers were given prompt first-aid and discharged.
