JEDDAH — For little Abdullah, a ride on the “Death Train” at the Atallah Theme Park on Tuesday proved to be just that. The three-year-old got electrocuted and died instantaneously when his seatbelt got inadvertently unbuckled and he fell off the train.
A crowd of hundreds watched helplessly as the train chugged back to run over Abdullah, who was electrocuted as soon as he fell on the tracks.
“It was nothing short of premeditated murder,” alleged Faisal Al-Marwani, Abdullah’s uncle. Among others, he claimed that the ride was not authorized by the Civil Defense Department, according to a report, he said, the theme park received from the department a day before the accident. Al-Marwani promised to produce a copy of the same to Arab News.
But that’s not all. Al-Marwani wondered why Abdullah, who was just three, was allowed on the ride that clearly mentioned it was not suitable for children under five.
“No one asked his aunt or his mother, who were accompanying Abdullah, about the child’s age,” Al-Marwani said. “As long as the theme park’s visitors pay for the rides, the officials are only too happy to let children play wherever they want — without checking safety procedures or ensuring that children are following recommended age and height limits. Are human lives that cheap for them?”
Al-Marwani, who rushed to the site after the incident and accompanied Abdullah in the ambulance to the hospital, said he was also shocked by the theme park’s apparent apathy to the incident.
Forget any consolation, Al-Marwani said, theme park officials had not even bothered to apologize for the incident.
According to Al-Marwani, the only call the family received after Abdullah’s death was from a representative of the theme park, who blamed the child for unfastening his belt that led to his demise.
Al-Marwani questioned how the official could say so with conviction considering he was not present on the spot as Tuesday is a women-only day.
Apparently, those who visited the theme park the day subsequent to the accident said all rides were operating as usual except for the “Death Train”.
“This is very insensitive of the theme park. How could they welcome visitors, mostly children, before fully investigating the reason behind the accident?” asked Ola Walid, 24.
“It is a shame that concerned authorities took the whole thing so lightly and did not respond to the accident in a proper way,” added Samia Hassan, a 43-year-old mother.
Al-Marwani said that, after his nephew’s death, he had now taken it upon himself to see that other children did not lose their lives due to the negligence of officials at theme parks. “We will not take this lightly,” Al-Marwani said, adding that theme parks here should take a leaf out of their counterparts abroad, who are very strict when it comes to ensuring children’s safety. “They are inflexible with the age limit of people who go on rides. Also, electronic belts cannot be unfastened except by the ride’s supervisor.”
At the time of going to press, Arab News had not received any response from the Jeddah police stating how the investigation was progressing.
