JEDDAH, 11 January 2005 — Ahli basketball player Hamdan Al-Muwallad, who went missing after a boat accident south of Obhur in Jeddah four days ago, is presumed drowned.
A pall of gloom fell over Ahli club, its players and fans as the news of his death reached them.
The 20-year-old player was on a fishing trip with his friends on Thursday night when the boat capsized after being hit by huge waves in an area called Soroom, 20 km south of Obhur. His friends on the boat were rescued. Hamdan’s body was still to be recovered despite three days of search.
Hamdan’s friends who held on to the boat after it flipped over, were rescued after 10 hours by the coast guard but Hamdan had been swept away by waves. One of the men on the boat called his brother in Jeddah to inform the coast guard about the accident. Teams from the coast guard and a helicopter were deployed in a search mission and the boat was found with two of Hamdan’s friends holding on to the overturned boat.
Coast guard personnel continued the search for Hamdan for three days but there was no trace of him.
Ahmad Basfar, supervisor of Ahli basketball team, said that Hamdan’s tragic death has deprived the country of a national basketball player in the making.
Khaled Falata, captain of the basketball team, said that the news came as a shock to Hamdan’s teammates. “The players and the entire basketball fraternity are still to recover from shock caused by the great loss,” he said.
