RIYADH: Yusuf Amir, a 43-year-old Sri Lankan hospital worker, was killed in a car accident on Jeddah’s Sitteen Street when he was hit by a 15-year-old unlicensed Saudi driver yesterday morning.
Police arrested the youth, who was uninjured in the accident and whose name is being withheld, after determining he was at fault for the fatal accident.
Amir was traveling with his nephew, Bahar Mahroof, 29, who was driving the car on their way to visit friends and relatives for Eid. Amir is from Kinniya, about 300 km from Colombo, and has been working in Jeddah for eight years. He is survived by a wife and three children back home.
Mahroof told Arab News that he was traveling at moderate speed when the Saudi teen slammed into the right side of the vehicle where Amir was seated as a passenger. Police believe the teen was driving at high speed and lost control.
Mahroof is being treated in hospital for minor injuries.
The Sri Lankan mission has contacted Amir’s wife, said Lafeer, adding that she has requested the body be returned to friends and relatives can perform last rites.
The Lankan Consulate in Jeddah will seek restitution from the family of the Saudi teen, who is being treated as a minor. There have been cases in Saudi courts where a 15-year-old is considered an adult based on the Shariah legal principle that an adult is determined by whether the accused has gone through puberty or not.
