Manama: Saudi Arabia Civil Defence has denied claims that it had issued orders to its crews not to enter any home, even in cases of emergency, without the presence of men inside.
“The allegations circulated online are baseless and lack credibility,” the general directorate of the Civil Defence said. “There have never been any orders to ensure the presence of male relatives before entering a home.”
The allegations that went viral on the Saudi blogosphere and social networks had claimed that no fireman could enter a home to put out a fire or to provide any assistance if there is no male relative, local news site Sabq reported on Sunday.
In February, local media reports said staff at a university in the capital Riyadh barred male paramedics from entering a women’s-only campus to assist a student who had suffered a heart attack and later died.
Amna Bawazeer, a Master’s student at the College of Social Studies at King Saud University, suffered the heart attack at 11 am at the women’s college where she was finalising her course timetable for the second semester.
However, when the ambulance arrived, the medics were not allowed to enter the college for two hours.
The university officials argued that the ambulance staff were males and could not enter the premises as the student was not covered and that no man could be allowed into the women’s college even though Amna needed prompt and vital treatment, the reports said.
Students said that they were shocked by the university officials’ attitude not to allow male medics to enter the college.
“Islam is a religion that facilitates practices, and the religious rule, in exceptional situations, are relaxed,” they told a local daily. “We do not see any necessity that is more pressing than rescuing the life of a human being from imminent death.”
In 2002, reports said that 15 schoolgirls died in a fire in Makkah in the western part of the kingdom after they were barred from leaving a burning building “because they were not properly dressed.”
