Heavy rains lash Saudi city of Taif

Cairo: Heavy rains had hit the city of Taif in western Saudi Arabia, flooding roads and trapping cars, media reported Saturday.

Online footage showed a number of cars submerged in rain-soaked streets.

Civil defence authorities said they had responded to 30 reports about cars trapped as a result of the Friday rains that resulted in high levels of accumulated waters on some roads. Fourteen of those cars had people stuck inside and were safely retrieved, the civil defence service added.

Some tunnels were also flooded by accumulated water.

The downpours paralysed traffic on a main Taif road after many vehicles broke down due to the piled rainwaters, online newspaper Sabq reported.

Locals in Taif’s district of Al Muntazah were forced to keep indoors due to the high levels of rainwaters, it added.

An emergency operations room has been set up to handle the situation in coordination with relevant government and non-governmental agencies. No casualties were recorded.