JIZAN, 17 April 2008 — A fire in the Sabia district of Jizan killed two children and severely injured their mother. The fire was caused when a 16-year-old boy drove his motorcycle into the cooking area of the family’s rural home. The motorcycle’s gas tank exploded because the bike was parked too close to the flames of a gas burner used for cooking food. The boy was taken to hospital but succumbed to injuries later while his 7-year-old brother died on the spot. The mother suffered first-degree burns while trying to rescue the boys.
Mobile Snatched in Parking Lot
JIZAN, 17 April 2008 — A teacher in this southern Saudi city was assaulted in a mobile-phone snatching incident that occurred in the parking lot of a shopping center. The man exited his vehicle and was talking on his mobile as he walked toward the shopping center’s entrance. A man running past and snatch the phone. As the man pursued his aggressor, another man assaulted him while a third whizzed by on a motorcycle and picked up his two accomplices.
Riyadh Police Bust Crime Ring
RIYADH, 17 April 2008 — Police arrested five Indonesian men on suspicion of being members of a criminal gang. The men were allegedly contracting maids to steal valuables from the homes of their employers and flee. Police said the men would harbor these runaway maids and pimp them as prostitutes or get them jobs as illegal maids at other houses, where they would repeat their crimes. After investigating, police arrested the men and nine maids who had fled their sponsors in Al-Suwaidi district of Riyadh. Police said they also seized stolen mobile phones, forged marriage contracts and jewelry.
