A total of 50 people died, 385 injured and 4,596 accidents took place because of the heavy rains that lashed the Kingdom over the past four days, it was confirmed by Maj. Gen. Sulaiman Bin Abdul Rahman Al-Ajlan, Director of the Traffic General Administration. Al-Ajlan called on motorists in all regions, governorates and cities to be cautious while driving in the wet weather. “Abiding by traffic instructions and the directives of traffic policemen limits the number of traffic accidents and guarantees public safety,” he said. He added that there were thousands of traffic violations over the past four days. Al-Ajlan emphasized that families who want to travel between cities should take adequate safety precautions. This includes that car tires are safe and can handle long journeys. In Najran, three expatriates died in a traffic accident that took place on Yadmah Governorate Road as a result of the heavy rain. The Civil Defense also had to rescue eight people and three families from floodwaters in Al-Habt Valley in the governorate. Capt. Ali Al-Shahrani, Civil Defense Spokesman in the Najran Region warned citizens and expatriates to stay away from valley beds and low-lying areas. In the Turabah Governorate, Civil Defense teams rescued six people stranded in Wadi Turabah. A search was also underway for a youth and his mother who went missing in Al-Khurmah Valley. The floods swept away Al-'Irqain and Al-Asslah roads while the security and traffic authorities closed the Turabah-Bisha Road because it was flooded. In Makkah, Maj. Gen Adel Zamzami, Director General of Civil Defense in the province, inspected on Saturday morning the areas damaged by the floods, including the Turabah, Al-Khurmah and Raniah valleys. He surveyed the area by helicopter. The rains in rural Adham resulted in an accident leading to the death of one person while two others sustained serious injuries. Two boys died in Al-Masaqah village as they slipped into a deep pit in which water from the heavy rains collected over the past two days. In addition, Nawan and Al-Ahsabah valleys were flooded. In one of the villages of the rural area of Al-Hulaifah in the Hail Region, Civil Defense teams recovered the body of a boy from a deserted well on Saturday afternoon. – Okaz/SG With input from Abdul Aziz Lasloom, Abdul Khaliq Al-Ghamdi, Abdullah Al-Magatti, Huwayyid Al-Bgumi, Hamdan Al-Sibei, Mohsin Al-Malki and Said Al
