year-old electronics engineer, who holds an Australian passport, was upset after his hand baggage with a laptop and a wallet containing his Iqama (residence permit), Saudi driving's license, Istimara (car registration paper) and SR1,000 in cash were lost at the security check at the domestic terminal of King Khaled International Airport (KKIA) here last week. The victim spoke to Saudi Gazette on condition of anonymity as legal proceedings are under way with airport authorities. The electronics engineer was traveling to Jeddah to meet his parents and to visit Makkah for Umrah. His plan was to perform Umrah before leaving to see his wife and other in-laws in New Zealand. However, the unpleasant incident which took place at the first security check at KKIA completely disrupted his plans. He said that as required by the security check, he placed his belongings on the conveyor belt and passed through the metal detector. He was shocked not to find his baggage at the other end of the belt, which is the usual procedure when passengers collect their belongings after the security check at airports. He said he waited for five to six minutes and upon not seeing his baggage, he asked the officials present at the security check. “I was born in Makkah and brought up in Jeddah. Besides, I travel a lot to various world destinations. This is the first time this has ever happened to me,” the engineer, son of a staff member of Saudi Gazette, said. He said the hand baggage contained a SR5,000 Toshiba laptop and his wallet had SR1,000 in cash, prepaid mobile chips, and other important documents. “The hand baggage and the container with personal belongings, which are usually passed on to the passenger after the security check were both missing. I was also shocked to receive a lukewarm response from the officials present there,” he said. His repeated pleas to the authorities to locate his baggage fell on deaf ears, he said. Agonized over the incident and concerned about missing his flight, he asked permission from one of the officials to be allowed to check for his missing baggage. He said the officer on duty allowed him to look for his belongings. “I ran around for a couple of minutes and in the process appeared like a fool, because some of the passengers began to give me strange looks,” he said. Now all of his travel plans are on hold as he has to complete procedures for the issuance of a new Iqama that might take a couple of days. A similar incident happened to another Saudi Gazette staff member two months ago, when his mobile phone went missing after he passed through the metal detector at the security check at Jeddah's King Abdul Aziz International Airport. “However, the airport authorities made an announcement just before the flight took off and handed over the mobile phone to him,” he said.
