The human remains that were unearthed at a farm in Safwa, Qatif, on Friday and Saturday have been transferred from a local hospital to a specialist hospital in Dammam for forensic analysis.

Sources said that the remains have been put together to facilitate investigation into how the deaths occurred, check for fractures and identify whether the bodies belong to male or female victims.

Ali Habib, who rented out the 20,000-square-meter farm east of Safwa two years ago, said that the farm was deserted and contained a lot of waste.

“We accidentally dug up a thigh bone as we were cleaning up the plot to construct an irrigation path,” he said.

“We then kept digging and found the first body. We called the police, who found another body on the same day and three more bodies on Saturday. They then returned on Sunday to search for more bodies,” he added.

Investigation teams say that the bodies may have been there for three or four years.

The decomposed bodies were found with ropes around the arms and legs and the mouths were filled with cotton and covered with duct tape.

The farm belongs to an elderly lady who had rented it to another tenant before Ali Habib, who is being investigated by the authorities.

Ali Habib initially thought the remains might have been those of a dead animal, but discovered undergarments next to the body.

“I initially thought these might be the remains of a young boy who went missing in Safwa, which prompted me to stop and notify the authorities. We thought there was only one body, but the officer said that these were the remains of two people,” he said.

“I am reluctant to cultivate this plot of land now,” he said.

Sources told local media that the rest of the bodies were recovered after authorities identified a body with documents next to the remains at the same location. They determined the name of one of the victims to be “Salim” because he had his name engraved on a ring they found. Salim’s sponsor lives in the neighboring town of Awamiya.

The sponsor’s employees have admitted to the disappearance of four people. Authorities are also investigating another sponsor in Safwa, whose private driver went missing years ago.