MADINAH, 19 January 2007 — Yousof Al-Khatabi, a Madinah resident, is now living in miserable conditions with his wife and three children after his poorly constructed house collapsed recently.
“I was sitting with my children around 2 o’clock waiting for my wife to get us our lunch. All of a sudden our house collapsed on us. We were in real threat; I took my children out to safety and my wife ran out the kitchen screaming,” said Al-Khatabi told Al-Madinah newspaper.
With tears in his eyes, Al-Khatabi said that he could not believe that they were able to rescue themselves. “I was glad that we were safe,” he said. “But I was at the same time thinking of where we would live and how would we proceed with our lives.”
The cause of the collapse has been attributed to poor construction coupled with the ground vibrations caused by a nearby construction project. “Our poor house was not able to endure the ongoing digging,” said Al-Khatabi. “Though I told the contractor several times about the problem of the vibrations, he didn’t listen.”
He also added that his oldest child is in his first year of school but cannot get to class from the house of relatives where the family is temporarily staying.
“Our relatives’ house is far from the school and I cannot afford the transportation,” said Al-Khatabi.
A quick look at the house showed the damages that had happened in every corner. The meal that the mother was preparing for her family was scattered all around. The tools and machines at the kitchen were smashed, the toys were destroyed and the furniture damaged.
Authorities are transferring the case to justice officials after determining that the construction project caused the house to collapse.
