The Civil Defense officer, who rushed to save a father and son after they fell into a manhole in front of a mall in Jeddah on Tahlia Street, has cited new details of the incident that resulted in the death of Ali Mohammad Mansho and his five-year-old son.

Cpl. Yasser Al-Ghamdi recounted the details of the seven-minute ordeal, saying both father and son were in fact almost pulled out of the manhole alive. “But only one meter away from the surface, they both fell again and were rescued for a second time, and were alive at this stage. It was only during the last few moments in the ambulance that they died,” he added.

“I was patrolling in my assigned security post in front of a commercial mall. I heard some yelling and screaming from a woman, prompting me to respond immediately. When I stepped down from my vehicle, I found a number of people crowding in front of a manhole,” he said. 

He said he asked the people around what was happening, and they informed him that a man and child had fallen into the manhole. He added: “Without hesitation, I went down the manhole which was 3 meters deep. On my way down I grabbed the man’s hand while he was clutching his son’s hand. His son was in a state of desperation. Some people present at the scene threw a rope into the opening of the hole. I proceeded to tie the rope around the man’s waist, ignoring the level of heat emanating from the hot oils in the manhole, as the site was located close to a restaurant.”

Al-Ghamdi said he also tied his own hands with the rope and tried to lift the man and his child out of the hole, both of whom were still alive at this time.

“Just one meter away from the opening, the child slipped from his father’s hand due to the grease. The father then slipped as well, sliding out from the rope that was tied around him because the three of us were covered in oil,” he added.

Despite this, he said that he managed to grab the father just before the waters could sweep him away.

“I managed to get both the father and son out after seven minutes of total apprehension inside the manhole, and despite the high temperature of the water and oil, and the stinking odors being emitted from the toxic gases. The father was alive when he reached the surface, and minutes later the Civil Defense teams reached the location. Both the father and son were alive when they were put in the ambulance, but died on way to hospital."

Brig. Saeed Al-Qarni, director of security patrols in Jeddah, received Al-Ghamdi at his office to honor him for his efforts to save the two victims of the Tahlia Street incident. A number of officers from the department attended the ceremony.

During the ceremony, Al-Qarni noted that Al-Ghamdi presented an example to other security members, and expressed gratitude for the efforts he made to save the lives of the father and son. “He presents to us a good example of the loyalty of a security man who deserves to be honored, and who has showcased the heroic actions of all security men deployed everywhere throughout the country,” said Al-Qarni.

In a separate development, the Administrative Court in Jeddah resumed its proceedings to prosecute those accused in the case of the Jeddah floods. The case involves 13 men, including former officials and employees who were suspended from work at the Jeddah municipality, the head of an involved contracting company, and a number of Saudi and expatriate engineers accused of bribery and forgery during the implementation of the projects that were intended to avert flooding. 

Sources told local media that the court fixed a date for the hearing to resume next week. 

The accusations included, in the case of the former official, misuse of his official position by providing 5,000 lids to remedy the many uncovered manholes across the city. The bid was transferred to a company whose owner is an acquaintance of the official, while the work itself was implemented by the driver of the first defendant who is an Arab, and is employed at an upholstery shop. The driver received SR20 for providing each lid, but the company received a total of SR100,000 for the implementation of the project.