Jeddah will need at least 25 additional facilities for after-death washing rituals to accommodate the increasing number of daily fatalities, said Bakr Khachim, chairman of a prominent Jeddah-based charity organization overseeing these facilities.

There are currently only 15 licensed washing facilities in the city, of which 10 are under the direct supervision of the country’s consultative assembly and five under the Jeddah municipality.

“On average, there are 35 to 40 deaths per day in Jeddah,” said Khachim. “Facility owners who advertise and charge money for washing bodies will face closure. Many of these facilities were also found to take in bodies without notifying authorities.”

He added: “We found many violators during inspections and are well aware of this problem. Two facilities have been closed down for violating regulations so far, one of which had refused to sign a pledge that it would no longer accept money, while the other facility refused to license its employees under the pretext they are volunteers.”

“The organization does not intend to undermine acts of charity, but we must be the only entity overseeing these facilities for security purposes,” he said. “We have installed cameras in eight facilities in Jeddah after witnessing unidentified workers handling and disposing of bodies improperly and taking them in without recording their data and who brought them in.”

He said they have a communication center that receives death reports around the clock. “The organization then informs facilities, who wash the bodies and transfer them to cemeteries for burial.”

“We are launching a new project under the slogan, ‘honoring the dead,’ under the patronage of Jeddah Gov. Prince Mishaal bin Majid,” he said. “The project will ensure proper handling and burial of bodies.”

“Officials from the Health Affairs Department and the Department of Forensic Medicine will conduct regular inspection tours of these facilities to ensure they are operating properly,” he said.