The neighbor, who was detained by police, claimed that he had no knowledge of the seriousness of the pesticides, which he bought from an Egyptian working in a laundry and used to rid his home of mice and bugs.
Giving his story about the incident, Razan's father Marwan Muaawad Al-Siraihi said he woke up from his sleep after midnight with difficulty in breathing and fast heartbeats. “The whole family had these symptoms. I took Razan and her older brother Rayyan, who were vomiting profusely, to hospital. They were immediately admitted to the intensive care unit,” he said.
The father said the doctors did their best to save his daughter, but she died, as the poison she had inhaled was too much for her to resist.
He reported the case to the police accusing his neighbor and the foreigner who sold him the insecticides of causing the death of his daughter.
Al-Siraihi said his neighbor traveled to Taif immediately after spraying his home with the deadly insecticide. “Our neighbor left his apartment on the very day of the incident,” he recalled.
Director of Jeddah Civil Defense Brig. Abdullah Jeddawi said the entire building was vacated and all apartments cleaned from the effects of the spray.
He said this was the fourth case in which the pesticide, known as aluminum phosphide, had caused death.
He said a committee comprising representatives of the Civil Defense, the municipality and the Ministry of Agriculture had inspected all shops selling pesticides and warned against using this particular compound.
“We distributed pamphlets and fliers warning against aluminum phosphide, but it is obvious that violations are still being made,” he added.
People who spray their homes with aluminum phosphide immediately leave the premise, so they will not be affected. “It is the neighbors who have no knowledge of the toxic fumes next door are often the victims,” he said.
Spokesman for Jeddah police First Lt. Nawwaf Al-Bouq said a number of shops and groceries illegally selling pesticides were closed down.
“It seems, however, that some of the workers in these places sell deadly pesticides to make money for themselves,” he said.
He warned that spraying insecticides in closed places might cause death to people who happen to inhale them.
Al-Bouq said the Egyptian denied any knowledge of the whereabouts of the neighbor who used the spray. He said investigations were ongoing.
The toxicity of aluminum phosphide is attributed to the liberation of phosphine gas, which is capable of inhibiting cellular enzymes involved in several metabolic processes. Death results from profound shock, inflammation of heart muscles and multiorgan failure.
