Dubai: A Yemeni man and an Indonesian man were electrocuted during heavy outpours in the Saudi city of Jeddah on Tuesday, it has been reported.
Nasser, 23, died at about 9am as he was buying bread for the family, according to his father.
“I asked him to go out to the neighbourhood bakery and shop and buy us bread and items for our breakfast,” the father told Saudi news site Sabq.
Pictures: Flash floods hit Saudi city of Jeddah
“On his way back, as he was passing a light post, he was electrocuted and fell on the ground. He lay there and nobody was aware that he had died.
"However, when an Indonesian watchman in a nearby building saw him lying unconscious, he rushed to help him. He was not aware that the water was electrocuted and he too was killed.
"He was such a noble man."
Upon seeing the two motionless bodies lying on the ground, neighbours alerted Nasser’s father and the watchman’s sponsor.
“The authorities took the bodies and we are still waiting for them to finish their routine procedures so that we can bury our son,” the father said.
“I am planning after the mourning period to sit with the watchman’s sponsor and agree on ways to file a legal case against whoever caused the water around the electricity pole to electrocute people.
"As far as I know, everywhere in the world, power poles are automatically shut down when there is heavy rain to ensure water does not seep into the wiring and cause deaths."
The sponsor said that the watchman had been working with him for 30 years.
“I had a terrible shock when I saw him lying on the ground,” he told Sabq. “I tried to get closer to him and see if I could help, but the water was electrocuted and approaching him meant certain death.
"We wanted to pull them out of the dangerous zone by tying them to a car, but it was impossible. There was nothing we could do to assist."
The sponsor said the watchman was married and had one daughter.
“He had just come back from his annual vacation in his home country," he said. "In fact, he arrived on Friday. His decision to try and help the young man lying on the ground was a brave act of heroism that embodies his noble feelings and dedication."
As residents attempt to come to terms over the tragedies that unfolded on Tuesday during and after rains, questions remain over the reasons Jeddah's roads are unable to cope with situations such as this and why people are killed through electrocution or drowning.
“The power poles in Jeddah are under the responsibility of the Jeddah municipality, which looks after them and maintains them,” said the deputy head of the Saudi electricity company.
“Our responsibility in this area is to provide the electricity."
Four children among the dead
The nine rain-related deaths in Saudi Arabia includes four children.
Civil Defence officers in Jeddah said three people were killed by electrocution as 39 cases of electrocution were reported.
Officers received 3,989 calls for assistance from 8am to 5pm, with 139 people calling to say they were besieged by water and 18 reporting the fall of trees and road signposts.
The Red Crescent in the Makkah region said they recorded 31 road accidents and rescued people trapped in wadi waters.
In Madina, two children died in Wadi Al Jafar and a search-and-rescue operation was launched to find a third.
A young man drowned in Wadi Malal in Al Mudasa village, the Civil Defence said, according to Saudi daily Okaz.
In Yanbu, two children, aged nine and 10, drowned in a wadi near the village of Al Bathna.
