Pall of gloom in Jubail after road tragedy

There were heartrending scenes at the homes of the six schoolchildren who died in the horrific road accident on a Jubail highway on Wednesday. Distraught parents and their relatives could barely speak to those who came to console them yesterday.
“It is a tragedy that cannot be described or explained in words,” said Rashid Al-Hussan, president of the group that runs the Jubail International School. “All of us are saddened and devastated by what happened.”
Al-Hussan appealed to the media not to reveal the names of the little victims at this stage to protect the privacy of their parents. “Let us pray for the victims and their parents; they are going through a very difficult time,” he said. “Everyone at our school and in our communities and all the senior management at our other institutions in Alkhobar are standing by the side of the heartbroken parents.”
Al-Hussan said most of the injured children have been released from different hospitals in Jubail. “Among the dead are two Pakistanis, two Egyptians, a Sudanese and a Jordanian,” he said. “All of them were either kindergartners or first-graders; five were boys and one a girl.”
He said the driver of the lane-jumping and speeding Toyota Land Cruiser, that crashed into the rear of the school bus, was alive. “He is a young fellow and he is alive and that is all we know about him,” he said. “He was speeding and cutting lanes and somehow lost control.”
The bus had 20 passengers on board, including 17 kindergartners and first-graders, a fifth-grader, a Filipino teacher and the Sri Lankan driver. It was taking the children home at the end of their school day. The driver and the Filipino woman escaped unhurt along with other children.
The Filipino teacher was on the bus as part of the school’s regulations. “There is always a teacher on the bus to take care of the little children; that is the norm at all Al-Hussan schools,” he said.
He said all the school buses were well maintained and in excellent condition. “And all the buses are GPS enabled; this helps us to monitor the speed of our buses; the moment our drivers exceed the speed limit we get a text message, and we immediately pull up the erring driver,” he said.
“This bus was running at 100 km/h, which is normal for that highway,” Al-Hussan said. “Most important, the bus was on the extreme right; it was not in the middle or any other lane.”
“What has happened is Allah’s will; we can only pray to Allah to grant the parents the patience to bear this tragedy,” said Al-Hussan. He had words of gratitude for the role played by the Royal Commission officials, Red Crescent and Civil Defense personnel and the staff at various hospitals on conducting the rescue and relief efforts.
There was a pall of gloom among local communities.
All programs at the weekend were cancelled.
“I am postponing Jashn-e-Bahara event for ladies because of the Al-Hussan school bus tragedy,” wrote Saima Aamir on her Facebook page. “As most of our dear members’ children study at Al-Hussan, we are standing with them in this difficult hour.”
In Dammam, well-known Pakistani community member Nadeem R. Khan appealed to the community to pray for the victims and their families. “Everyone is sad at the loss of these precious children; it is a big tragedy,” he said. “As a father of young children I can understand and feel the pain of these parents; may Allah help them.”
International Indian School-Jubail Principal Dr. Syed Hameed expressed shock and sorrow at the tragedy. “This is our worst nightmare,” he said. “Every single day, I am worried about our children.”
He stood by the Al-Hussan school management on Wednesday night and personally visited the Al-Mana Hospital to express the Indian community’s solidarity with the victims and their families.