The Saudi Geological Survey (SGS) team called in to help search for a Lexus believed to have mysteriously disappeared under the murky waters of Arbaeen Lake last Friday after an alleged crash with another car mapped out three possible locations in the lake where the Lexus may be. The three locations were pointed out to the authorities to enable them to continue their search for the Lexus, said Zuhair Abdulhafiz Nawab, chairman of the SGS, Monday. The team included three marine geologists and a map designer. The authorities will decide whether to call off the search in consultation with the SGS, said Col. Muhammad Al-Qahtani, chief of the Jeddah Police Department. It is believed that they will reach a decision Tuesday after five days of searching without finding the phantom car. The Coast Guard is the government body that has the authority to call off the search operation, Al-Qahtani said. The decision to call off the search will depended on the information provided by the SGS, said Saleh Al-Shihri, spokesman of the Coast Guard. The divers have been searching the lake for five days now and there has been no indication as of now of a “submerged” vehicle, he said. In their search for the alleged sunken Lexus, the SGS team used sonar, a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater) to navigate, communicate with or detect other vessels. A rescue team member of the Coast Guard suffered skin rash from the dirty water of the lake and was sent for treatment, but soon re-joined his team at the lake. The main eyewitness, who was only 60 meters away from the crash, confirmed for the third time Monday that he saw two Lexus cars, and that one of them hit the concrete barrier on the flyover and fell straight into the lake. The two new witnesses, who showed up Sunday, described the first eyewitnesses testimony as a “figment of the imagination,” saying that no car plunged into the lake. They were 300 meters away from the crash scene when it happened. “We were driving across the bridge in our car at the time of the Lexus crash and never saw a vehicle go over the edge,” they said.
