Manama: The terror blast that hit the town of Qadeeh in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province on Friday killing 22 mosque worshippers was for residents a grim reminder of a fire tragedy that claimed 79 lives in 1999.
On Friday, a suicide bomber blew himself up inside Ali Ibn Abi Talib mosque as worshippers were performing prayers.
The act of terrorism killed at least 22 people, including the bomber, and injured more than 100 people.
The act was swiftly condemned by Saudi officials and common people amid warnings and calls that it should not be used by anyone to sow divisions between the Sunni and Shiite communities in the area and across the vast kingdom.
Plans to bury the dead late on Friday had to be changed as the authorities are still conducting their investigation to determine the exact conditions of the suicide attack claimed by the Daesh terror group.
Families and residents are shocked and resilient, trying to come to terms with the tragedy that no-one had foreseen in the placid community.
But memories were jolted back to a Wednesday evening in 1999 when 79 women and children were killed in a fire that gutted a tent where dozens of people were celebrating the marriage of a town resident.
The fire broke out at 10.40pm and the guests, all females as per the local traditions that keeps women and men separate even in celebrations, were inside the large tent.
With the flames quickly spreading through the tent, guests tried to make their way out, they were socked to realize it had only one exit, causing a stampede and preventing people to leave.
Witnesses said the bride, Karima, perished in the fire even though she reportedly had a lucky escape in the beginning, but insisted on going back in to try to save a baby.
Some of the bodies were so charred that the families were unable to identify them and the town agreed to bury the dead without delays.
According to reports, more than 100,000 people from Qadeeh and neighbouring villages and town attended the mass funerals.
The reports said that some of the wounded victims, 16 years later, are still carrying with them scars from the fire tragedy.
The same residents today hope that the same spirit of togetherness and solidarity will once more prevail and allow the town to overcome stoically the painful loss caused by a non-local terrorist.