The official number of persons still missing after the late November floods in Jeddah stands at 20 after the bodies of two boys were identified by DNA testing. Sayel and Hofouf were identified as the sons of Ali Al-Otaibi and his wife Fawza after DNA samples were taken last week from the parents' bodies which lie in Jeddah's Al-Harazat Cemetery. Seven-year-old Sa'ad from the same family remains missing. The search for and identification of bodies of the remaining missing persons continues, with decomposed body parts reportedly discovered at an area of water to the east of the Al-Sawa'ed Lake on Tuesday. Abdullah Al-Jeddawi, Jeddah's Civil defense chief, said that a new channel had been dug at the site to drain water from the hollow after the level rose from 10 centimeters to two meters a week ago following leakage from nearby desalination tank reserves. “The nature of the earth at the site is impeding procedures and we can't dig a very deep channel as the machinery will simply sink,” Al-Jeddawi said. Since the flood disaster, authorities have delivered 113 bodies to their families, while nine corpses still await DNA identification. Procedures are also being carried out with the relevant consulates concerning the bodies of an Indonesian woman and a Bangladeshi man.
