Manama: The Civil Defence department in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, has vowed to take disciplinary measures against one of its staff members for surfing through the mobile of a driver who had just died in a horrible car crash.
A self-shot short video showed the Civil Defence staff member going through the latest messages sent and received by the driver seconds before the accident.
The staff then showed a pixelated image of the driver and said the victim’s mother had been messaging her son.
Praying for the dead driver, he urged caution and warned against texting while driving.
However, a spokesperson for the Civil Defence said the employee’s behaviour was unacceptable and said that he would be questioned and punished as per regulations.
“We have contacted the family of the victim and offered them our apologies for the behaviour of the staff member,” Mohammad Al Hammadi, the department’s spokesperson, said.
“His attitude was a personal behaviour that does not represent the values of the Civil Defence personnel who are keen on respecting the dead and exert their utmost efforts to save and rescue victims.”
Reports said the driver smashed his car onto a concrete mixer truck while texting his mother.
Social media users supported the decision to take punitive action against the member of the Civil Defence, insisting he had no right to go through the mobile or to point the camera at him.
Most users said they appreciated the intention of the staff to warn young people against texting while driving, but stressed that he had taken the wrong approach, one that did not take into consideration the feelings of the family, especially the mother.
