MADINAH, 5 April 2008 — Funeral prayers for Umar and Hamza will be held at the Prophet’s Mosque today. They were two of the four people who died in an accident on Monday that may have been caused when they fled from a police officer and two members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.
The status of the bodies of the two other accident victims, a woman and her daughter, was unknown.
The body of Umar, who is believed to have been the driver, was received from the Miqat hospital morgue, while Hamza’s body was recovered by the family from the King Fahd Hospital. The release of the bodies was delayed because the police wanted a thorough autopsy report.
In another development, Arab News learned that the family of one of the two arrested commission members requested the authorities to release him on bail. Police arrested the two commission members and a policeman on Tuesday following witness reports that a commission car was seen in hot pursuit of the car shortly before the accident took place on Khaleel Road. By orders of the Interior Ministry, commission members are not supposed to participate in the pursuit of suspects. The family also requested the public not to pre-judge their relatives.
The commission’s director in Madinah, Fahd Al-Khidr, called the allegations regarding the commission’s involvement in the accident baseless and said his organization had nothing to do with the accident. The homicide department of the General Investigation and Prosecution Board will conduct a detailed investigation.
Meanwhile, investigations are still under way regarding the involvement of two commission members in a high speed chase that led to the deaths of a young man and woman near Tabuk area last month.
