JEDDAH, 10 February 2004 — A 17-year-old speeding motorist killed two high-school girls and injured five others as parents and children watched in horror, in Madinah on Sunday. The motorist described as driving in a “crazy and reckless” manner, lost control of his car and plowed into the seven girls who were standing in front of their high school.
According to witnesses at the scene, the young man was seen moments before the accident, “pulling handbrakes turns and spinning donuts” in an adjoining street. Parents and students speculate that he was doing this to get the attention of the girls as they stood outside their school waiting for their rides home.
Parents and students looked on dumbstruck as the scene unfolded before their eyes.
“I was standing across the street from the school when it happened. Immediately afterward there were screams and many girls fainted,” one witness told reporters. “The teachers screamed at us to go back into the school. There was blood and shoes everywhere.”
“My mother was picking me up when the accident happened,” said another witness, still in a state of shock. “I saw blood pouring from the head of one of my friends. She was dying right in front of me. My mother shielded my eyes so I couldn’t see anymore of the victims. I will never forget what I saw just here. They told me that no one died, but I didn’t believe it.”
Two of the injured girls were able to speak with reporters from their hospital beds. One girl whose face was severely swollen from the impact said, “I was waiting for my brother to pick me up. I saw the red car skidding at first, and then he came at us fast and hit us. The next thing I remember was waking up in the hospital.”
“In the accident I suffered injuries to my teeth, eyes, face and body. This maniac could have killed us all,” said Ghadeer, another victim.
The mother of one of the victims spoke to Arab News by telephone from King Fahd Hospital in Madinah yesterday. She said, “My daughter has a broken pelvis and two broken legs. She’s in a lot of pain and can’t talk. She lapses in and out of consciousness.”
The driver was also hospitalized, but is now in police custody.
Hours after news of the accident spread, a special on-line chat room was set up to discuss the problems the young boys and men cause outside girls’ schools in the mornings and afternoons.
One participant, Emadi, demanded religious police be present during school commuting hours. Another participant, Eid Bin Shaker, put the responsibility on boredom amongst the young. “There is no outlet for their frustrations apart from a ring on their finger. The young man was trying to get some attention and didn’t think that he could kill anyone.”
“The responsibility should fall on the father of this boy for giving a car to a boy so irresponsible. This boy’s life is ruined,” Flaihan, another participant said.
Another participant, Al-Mutafaraeen was far sterner. “We should load a bus full of Hajis and drive it over that boy,” he said.
Abu El-Joury said, “A law should be passed that allows capital punishment for those who kill others in accidents that involve speed contests and skidding. These ‘shows’ claim the lives of dozens every year.”
Arab News drove to various girl’s schools in the Al-Rawdah district of Jeddah this afternoon as students left school, and found that at all four of the schools visited, young men were circling in their cars. Arab News spoke to one young man, 19, in a red Volkswagen Golf cruising one of the schools.
“I do it to try to get the girls’ attention. Usually I drive around and to see if someone pays any attention to me. I throw my number to the girls and hope they call,” he said.
When told of the accident in Madinah, he said, “Some guys try to show off by speeding and skidding. But most of us like to show off our cars. We take care of them and keep them shined before coming to the schools. We drive slowly and let the girls see us. No one here gets hurt, except maybe for a couple of hearts being broken.”
