JEDDAH, 29 August 2006 — A traffic cop was hit and seriously injured on Jeddah’s Briman Bridge by a driver who was traveling in the wrong direction, the daily Al-Madinah reported yesterday. The officer was admitted to the King Fahd Hospital with multiple fractures. The driver, who ran over the man from behind, attempted to flee the scene but hit an oncoming vehicle. No injuries were reported. The driver attempted to flee on foot but was later caught.
One Dies, 16 Hurt as Van Overturns
MAKKAH, 29 August 2006 — One woman died and 16 others were injured when the van they were traveling in overturned after busting a tire on the Madinah Highway near Makkah on Saturday, the daily Al-Nadwa reported yesterday. The passengers were said to be members of two families, one Saudi and the other Pakistani, who were returning to Makkah after visiting the Holy Mosque in Madinah. The injured were taken to the Hira General Hospital and the King Abdul Aziz Hospital at Zahir. Some of the injured were in critical condition.
Municipal Worker Shocked to Death
TAIF, 29 August 2006 — A Saudi municipal worker was fatally electrocuted while on the job near a public garden in Audah on Saturday, the daily Al-Jazirah reported yesterday. Ayda Al-Humaidi, 45, was watering plants on a pavement near the garden when he was electrocuted after leaning on a damaged electric post. Ayda was hurled several meters from the high-voltage discharge. It reportedly took two hours before the man was found and emergency officials to arrive. By then it was too late.
Two Soldiers Executed for Drug Smuggling
RIYADH, 29 August 2006 — Two Saudi soldiers were beheaded yesterday after being convicted of drug smuggling, the Interior Ministry said. Mueid ibn Yahya Al-Waeli and Mehdi ibn Hamad Al-Mansour, who worked as border guards, were caught smuggling drugs using a patrol vehicle, the ministry said in a statement cited by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA). They were executed in the northern town of Arar, near the border with Iraq. Their beheading brings to five the number of executions in the Kingdom this year, the AFP reported, citing the SPA report. (Agence France Presse)
