JEDDAH, 27 February 2008 — The father of two boys, who died after falling in an artesian well in Madinah last year, said a hearing into their deaths at a Madinah court yesterday was unfruitful.
Faiz Al-Mutairi, whose two boys - Mushari and Fahd - died in the well, said the municipality failed to provide answers to the judge's questions.
Al-Mutairi said this is the seventh time that the hearing was delayed. "It is always the municipality that causes the delay," said the father, who considers both the Madinah Municipality and the Civil Defense responsible for his sons' deaths.
Al-Mutairi is asking for SR10 million in compensation - SR5 million from the Civil Defense and SR5 million from the municipality. He said the Civil Defense was defending itself "but pictures contradict their claims."
Al-Mutairi said the Civil Defense did not use appropriate equipment to rescue the two boys and accused them of wasting time when they were called in to help.
He also claimed that the Civil Defense failed to help his children and instead "worked with Afghan laborers, who did not have advanced equipment or training in rescue operations."
According to Al-Mutairi, it was due to media coverage that a committee was initiated to study the case. "I just don't want this to happen to anyone," said the distraught father, who is a major in the National Guard.
Another hearing has been scheduled to take place on April 8. Al-Mutairi, who has not assigned a lawyer and is fighting the case himself, said, "I am only taking the advice of some legal consultants."
Saud Al-Hujaili, a lawyer, said that it is sad how some governmental bodies do not learn from past incidents. "Thirty years ago a similar incident happened to a Palestinian boy in the Al-Anbaria district of Madinah," he said.
Al-Mutairi, who is also calling on the National Society for Human Rights to interfere in the case, said the Civil Defense has better equipment than 30 years ago "yet they failed to rescue my kids."
The artesian well where the two boys fell was 12 meters deep and 15 inches wide. Fahd, the younger of the two, was the first to fall in. Mushari got stuck inside while attempting to rescue his brother. The two boys died in spite of the Civil Defense providing them with oxygen and water for seven hours while they tried to dig them out.
It was also reported that digging equipment used by the Civil Defense burned parts of the children's bodies.
