ABHA: The family of a schoolteacher who has been missing after his car was swept away by torrential floods on Monday has threatened to file a lawsuit against the Civil Defense in Jizan for neglect of duty.
Adil Moukli, 27, and three colleagues were crossing Wadi Al-Raith on their way to work in Sarat Obeid when the accident occurred. Hassan Hekami, one of the teachers, was killed, while his colleagues Yahya Moukli, Adil’s brother, and Abdullah Mukshie escaped with injuries.
“A search was launched by local residents. The Civil Defense personnel were not even there as reported in the media, which spoke about divers, boats and rescue teams,” said Yahya.
He said Civil Defense teams only visited the location as siteseers with photographers to document their presence and did not attempt a search operation. He said 200 residents looked for his missing brother until they reached the Bish Dam, which was too deep for them to dive into.
Yahya added that his family has sent three cables to Jizan Gov. Prince Muhammad bin Nasser, Interior Minister Prince Naif and Director General of Civil Defense Lt. Gen. Saad Al-Tuwaijri, requesting their immediate intervention to intensify the search.
Adil had been teaching Arabic in Sarat Obeid, which is part of Asir province, for five years. He is married with a three-year-old son.
Adil’s wife works as a schoolteacher in the town of Sabya, where they both live. Adil left home at 2 p.m. on Monday with his colleagues to go to his workplace, which is located 350 kilometers away across difficult and mountainous terrain.
Spokesman for Jizan’s Civil Defense Lt. Hatim Al-Nimari refuted Yahya’s claims saying search operations started immediately after information about the missing teacher was received and continued until evening.
He added that operations resumed yesterday morning under the command of Col. Hamoud Al-Hassani, director general of Jizan Civil Defense, who was accompanied by three rescue teams, which included three divers. He added that search operations would continue today using boats.
A source at the Ministry of Education, who requested not to be identified, said the ministry would pay SR60,000 in compensation, in addition to his full retirement benefits regardless of his period of service, to Adil’s family in case it was proved that the teacher had died in the accident.
