Makkah newspaper

A GROUP of three young Saudis went on an expedition to the peak of Efaf mountains in the Bani Hilal region, west of Adham governorate. They got into a car and drove through a dirt road constructed by a Saudi individual on rugged terrain.

Torrential floods had damaged the road and the municipalities of Al-Laith and Adham had not taken any action to repair the road. The three young men — my son Mohammed, his cousin Nawaf and their friend Saud — were on their way to the top of Efaf.

They got out of the car and started climbing the mountain. Saud became tired as a result of the difficult trek in extreme hot weather and there was no water to drink. Moreover, Saud had donated one of his kidneys to his father only a few months ago.

The trio were held up on top of the mountain and were unable to return to their car. They called the Civil Defense to save them.

Mohammed remained with Saud while Nawaf went out looking for help and found it difficult to cross the rugged slopes.

The Civil Defense responded quickly by sending a car and a Black Hawk helicopter. The Black Hawk had been combing the area from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. but the crew could not locate the three men despite having continuous contacts with the young men trapped on the rugged mountain.

This dangerous situation gave me a feeling that we are still live in the stone age without having the technology to track down and save people in danger. What would have been the situation if one of the missing persons was injured and bleeding or bitten by an Efaf snake?

In the meantime, four young volunteers from the village of Kefu, which is located at the bottom of the mountain, came for help. They were Ahmad, Hassan, Fawaz and Rami. Ahmad and Hassan reached near Muhammad and Saud before the helicopter, which left the place after taking Mohammed and Saud on board. They also took Ahmed and Hassan with them.

Ahmed had requested Civil Defense officers to wait in order to airlift the other two volunteers who were still languishing under the hot son. Unfortunately, the Civil Defense men did not heed his request. They took Mohammed and his friend Saud as well as the two volunteers, Ahmed and Hassan, to hospital.

The Civil Defense officers deserve special thanks and appreciation for doing their duty in saving the lives of four people. They have carried out their mission with great difficulty. But their refusal to wait and save the other individuals has caused deep disappointment.

The second tragedy started with the departure of the helicopter squad without taking Fawaz and Rami, who were exhausted as a result of thirst and hunger. Moreover, darkness had befallen on them. Their families and relatives had informed the Civil Defense about the missing young men.

The Civil Defense team withdrew from the mountain saying it was difficult for them to search for the missing individuals in the darkness and that they do not fly after 5 p.m.

Fawaz, 18, and his nephew Rami, 17, remained trapped on the dangerous mountain. Hearing the news we felt deep sorrow as we could imagine their difficult condition. I wish the Civil Defense officers had felt this pain and intervened quickly to save the two lives.

It was sheer negligence on the part of Civil Defense officers. They do not have any excuse for this negligence. How can they leave two young men to languish on a rugged mountain terrain in extreme conditions without food and water.

The two would have died of fear about poisonous snakes that are aplenty on that mountain. The slippery mountain slopes were also dangerous. But these terrible conditions did not prompt the Civil Defense officers to show some mercy to the trapped young men.

They were not bothered about the horrendous situation the two young Saudis were in. This prompted a group of volunteers to search for the missing individuals using primitive tools. The volunteers found the two individuals at 1 a.m. in a pathetic condition due to thirst, fear and exhaustion.

The Civil Defense rescue teams were not in sight and the two young men remained with the volunteers until noon. The Civil Defense spokesman was giving contradictory accounts on the number of lives they saved during the operation. His figures varied between seven, five and three.

Actually the Civil Defense saved only two men using the helicopter: My son Mohammed and his friend Saud. Nawaf saved himself and arrived on the road and got water to drink before the squad found him. It would have been better if the Civil Defense officers had not airlifted volunteers Ahmed and Hassan and left them to protect their younger brothers from hardship.

The Civil Defense has been exerting tremendous efforts to save people in danger. They have made immense contributions in this respect. Many of them have lost their lives and became martyrs while saving lives of people in distress. Their courage and heroism are well known and nobody can underrate their work.

The talk about this Civil Defense group does not mean we ignore the achievements of this important organization. This incident takes us to ask a number of questions. First, where are the capabilities which the department often boasts of? Where are the modern equipment and devices that are used to search for people in the darkness of night? What prevented other Civil Defense helicopters from joining the rescue operation and where was the desire to carry out the rescue in a record time?

Above all, where is the feeling of humanity? How could the Civil Defense officers sleep while the two young Saudi men faced certain death on the Efaf mountains? Only because of Allah’s mercy and the efforts of the volunteers, the two young men are still alive. We expect a convincing reply from senior officials of the Civil Defense Department and we hope the reply would be convincing and up to our expectations about this important department.