Riyadh: Director of Civil Defence, General Sa'ad Al Tuwaijri has announced that 10 people have died as a result of Wednesday's torrential rains and floods in Jeddah.
Giving the breakdown of their nationalities, he said two Saudis, two Chadian children and one from each of Egypt, Nepal, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Yemen and Turkey died and three persons were still missing and 114 were admitted to hospitals.
In an official statement, he said that his department, in cooperation with other concerned agencies, is still engaged in rescue operations in the affected areas.
He said till Friday 1,451 persons were rescued by civil defence land squads and 498 by air squads. More than 1,500 families were given shelter.
Power was restored to 78,681 consumers out of the 83,3042 whose power was disconnected due to the heavy rains, he said.
The torrential rains and floods which hit Jeddah for the second consecutive year caused rage among Saudis who urged the government to hold accountable those responsible of the poor infrastructure of the city.
Speaking to Gulf News, Saudi writers and intellectuals said all Saudis want to see those responsible of what is happening in Jeddah held accountable and brought to justice.
They added that Saudis are waiting for the implementation of the King's decision in which he asked authorities in charge to take immediate action and severely punished any negligence.
Yousuf Al Kuwialeet, a Saudi writer said the recurrence of Jeddah catastrophe is not due to the lack of financial allocations, but a result of lack of honesty among officials.
Dr. Rami Al Silawi, a Sudanese physician working in Jeddah, said the crisis is unbelievable. He added that in addition to the damages caused by rain and floods, the crisis has resulted in high psychological pressure for those whose properties were damaged as well as those who were stranded for hours reaching their homes in the morning of Thursday.
For his part, Hassan Al Selami, a Saudi journalist based in Jeddah, said the floods and rains have silenced Jeddah Municipality Medua Centre for the third running day.
He added that the centre stopped sending press releases contrary to its pre-crisis custom when it used to send two to three press releases every day telling the press of the achievements of the municipality.
"At the time when different government agencies in Jeddah have set up 24-hour opertaion centres to engage with media outlets and receive complains, Jeddah municipality has only warned of 100 locations where rain water accumulated and then the municipality keeps silent," he pointed out.
