Civil Defense officials have managed to retrieve part of the body of six-year-old Lama Al-Rouqi on Monday who died after falling into an abandoned well in Tabuk on Dec. 20.

Col. Mamdouh Al-Anazi, media spokesman for the Civil Defense in Tabuk, confirmed that officers had found part of Lama's body. The officials sent the remains to forensics experts and have continued their search.

The father of the little girl has criticized the Civil Defense for its rescue operations, claiming that officials failed to bring in high-tech equipment. He also claimed that Saudi Aramco wanted huge sums of money to provide assistance in the search, which he could not afford.

In response, Maj. Gen. Mastour Al-Harithy, director of the Civil Defense, said 216 officers were deployed at the location to help with the rescue operation as soon as the father reported the incident. This included help from Aramco and other experts, he said.

He said the rescue operations were affected by difficult conditions in the well, which was drilled by a Saudi farmer years ago to supply water to local nomads. He rejected accusations that it had not done enough to find Lama.

A scholar had stated that the well can be regarded as Lama's grave, but her mother later said that she wants her daughter buried in a proper graveyard.