“The smoke and vapor coming out of a ditch were caused by an underground electric cable which was affected by dampness and moisture,” said a Civil Defense statement.
The district's residents, who were worried that they might witness a volcanic eruption followed by an earthquake, questioned the quality of coordination between public and private departments concerned and said it was only the Civil Defense that came up with the answers.
Denying the possibility of any volcanic activity, the Civil Defense said in a statement that it had thoroughly checked the site after receiving complaints from residents about the smoke and steam coming out of a ditch in their area.
“The issue has been handed over to an electricity company to fix the problem,” spokesman of the Civil Defense Capt. Saleh Al-Olayani said.
Abdul Moaeen ibn Hassan Al-Shaikh, a director for distribution in the western sector and customer service for the electricity company, told Arab News that the first time the company had heard of the situation was when it was informed by the Civil Defense.
He said the company discovered that soil humidity had damaged the cable, causing smoke and steam.
“The damage was not immediately discovered because the cable was low-voltage. If it was medium- or high-voltage, we would have picked up on it immediately and fixed it on the spot,” he said.
Al-Shaikh denied reports by online media that the company had no previous knowledge of the incident and that it was not concerned about the problem, adding no statement to this effect was made.
Spokesman for the Presidency of Meteorology and Environment (PME) Hussain Al-Qahtani denied that the issue was the concern of the presidency, telling Arab News that it was the responsibility of the Civil Defense and the Geological Survey Department (GSD).
Director of the National Center for Earthquakes and Volcanoes at the GSD Hani ibn Mahmoud Zahran on his part dismissed any possibility of volcanic eruptions in Al-Awali district in Makkah.
A number of online media quoted residents as saying that they had noticed the smoke more than three months ago and had informed a number of government departments including the municipality, which allegedly refused to take responsibility.
