MADINAH — With shaking hands and a sinking heart, Abu Mabrook Salamah Al-Dhibyani threw dust on the grave that contained the body of Nauf, his life-long companion who was laid to rest in the historic Al-Baqie Cemetery in Madinah on Saturday. However, Dhibyani could not return home from the graveyard to find solace because the authorities have yet to find the bodies of two other members of his family who have presumably drowned after they had been swept away by floodwaters. Nauf drowned in Wadi Al-Dawda north of Madinah following Wednesday's heavy rain. Her body was found by the Civil Defense rescue teams a day later and the funeral prayers were held for her in the Prophet's Mosque on Saturday after the Isha prayer. After burying his wife at Al-Baqie, Dhibyani went back to the valley where he sat on the banks under a tree, breaking down in tears for the loss of Nauf, his son Mabrook, who was in his 40s, and daughter-in-law Mariam. In the four days that followed the floods, Dhibyani was still holding hope that his wife, son and daughter-in-law would be found alive by rescue teams. Whenever the Civil Defense personnel called each other for any reason, he would jump up asking: "Have they been found?" When he realized that the rescuers were talking to each other about other matters, he would go back to his seat under the tree with eyes fixed at the valley and hands raised in supplications to save the lives of his beloved ones or at least to find their bodies so that his grief could have a closure. Dhibyani hopes that the other members of his family would be found alive faded after the burial of his wife. According to Al-Madina newspaper on Sunday, the bodies of his son and daughter-in-law could have been buried in the muddy bottom of a dam in the valley. The family members appreciated the tireless efforts being exerted by the Civil Defense teams and hoped that the two bodies would be found soon. A video clip that went viral on social media showed the three being washed away by flash floods and an unknown good Samaritan trying in vain to save them. The strong currents got the better of the gallant man and swept the bodies toward the dam two kilometers away. Dhibyani, his relatives and the family members of his daughter-in-law still gathered at the scene waiting for the two bodies to be pulled out.
