A relative of Waleed Al-Ghuraibi, the seven-year-old boy who fell into a coma after suffering an electric shock at the Jeddah Corniche last Friday, has accused the Jeddah Municipality of neglect.

The Safety Department at Jeddah’s Civil Defense has since spotted numerous locations that pose a health hazard to residents.

Waleed is still in a coma at Soliman Fakeeh hospital in Jeddah.

Ahmad Al-Ghuraibi, Waleed’s grandfather, blamed the municipality for the accident, saying that neglect in safety requirements led to the tragedy. Al-Ghuraibi said the family came from Taif to spend the vacation in Jeddah.

“My child was a victim of gross neglect,” he said, adding that the family would file a lawsuit.

“The Jeddah Municipality is to blame because it left an uncovered electrical wire out in the open, putting at risk the lives of citizens and visitors,” the grandfather said.

Waleed is now suffering other complications. “We actually do not know whether to refer the case to the Civil Defense or to the Jeddah police. These departments are trying to absolve themselves of the responsibility by placing the blame on each other,” he said.

Al-Ghuraibi said the family is staying at a furnished apartment awaiting Waleed’s recovery. “We are paying the cost of treatment ourselves since nobody checked on Waleed or asked about his condition,” said the grandfather.

Col. Saeed Bin Sarhan Al-Ghamdi, Civil Defense spokesman in Makkah, said a team from the Safety Department visited the scene of the accident accompanied by representatives from the Jeddah Municipality and the Electricity Company.

They recorded several hazards that endangered the lives of citizens and visitors.

The power has been disconnected at the location and the team has demanded that the municipality conduct regular maintenance.

Sarhan said that such isolated incidents are under investigation through studies conducted by jurisdictive bodies and not the Civil Defense.

He pointed out that the hospital is partly to blame for not notifying authorities of the accident the moment the case reached their premises.