An incident similar to the Tahlia Street sewage tank tragedy was close to being repeated some days ago when a five-year-old boy strayed from his father and almost fell into an open sewage tank in the Al-Telphision district in the south of Jeddah. Luckily, Hassan Al-Shamrani, the father who is a schoolteacher in Jeddah, was able to save him in the nick of time.

Al-Shamrani explained that he was not expecting an open manhole in such a crowded place. He said he is grateful to Allah for having been able to pick up his child just before he could slip into the manhole.

Ibrahim Mohammed Abdullah, supervisor of a laundry shop in the area, said that the sewage tank had undergone change of cover at least three times in the past. But they had all been broken by the suction trucks while draining water.

Official spokesman for the Civil Defense in Makkah, Col. Saeed Sarhan, said a safety delegation from the Civil Defense inspected the exposed manhole after receiving a report from a citizen. He said a joint report has been submitted to the municipality to address the issue.

Sarhan called on all citizens and residents to quickly report any threat to life and property by contacting the municipality. He said that if they were unable to reach them, they could contact the Civil Defense, which in turn would coordinate with these agencies to address any threats.