MADINAH, 21 August 2003 — An attempt to save lives turned into a battle here. When a fire broke out at a house in a densely populated area, firefighters arriving at the scene decided to enter a neighboring building which provided better access to the source of the blaze. They ordered the residents of the neighboring house to leave the premises to allow the officers to put out the fire. But the officials found themselves confronted by a brick wall in the shape a resident refusing them entry on the grounds that there were women in the house. The fire department and police tried to explain to the man that his own property and family could be in danger if he stayed, but the man remained adamant. With the fire getting closer, the fire department had no choice but to forcibly evict the people from their house. The ensuing confrontation erupted first into fisticuffs and then into a fully-fledged battle, with sticks and small rocks being hurled at the intruders by the enraged residents and their neighbors.
