Ibn_hassan
01-24-2008, 02:06 PM
Riyadh: At least 12 people, according to unofficial estimates, died as a result of a cold wave over the past two weeks, local reports said.
The kingdom was hit by the worst cold in four decades, and the deaths were reported in the northern cities of Arar, Rafha, Qirayat Qasim and Hail, local press reports said.
Among the dead was an 11-year-old female pupil. She died a few days ago at her school yard in Jouf. A source at the region's education department told London-based Al Hayat newspaper that "Jawaher, who was in the fifth grade, breathed her last minutes in the morning before classes started".
Last week King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz directed the Ministry of Finance to deliver emergency relief supplies, including foodstuffs, blankets, heaters, sweaters and other materials to be distributed to needy ones affected by the cold weather.
Temperature remains one to nine degree below 0 Celsius in some northern parts of the kingdom.
The kingdom's Grand Mufti, Shaikh Abdul Aziz Bin Abdullah Al Al Shaikh, has called upon philanthropists all over the kingdom to support people affected by the cold spell.
In some parts of the kingdom several schools have stopped morning exercise and parents refused to send their children to schools, reports said.
In Dammam, 60 Asian construction workers refused to report to work before they were given clothes suitable for the cold weather. Their company later responded to their appeals, reports said.
Workers dead
An Indian worker, two Egyptians and a Saudi security man, working at the International Airport in the holy city of Madinah, died of cold.
A source at the Egyptian embassy in Riyadh told Gulf News bodies of the two Egyptians, both in their twenties, were sent home last week. Hundreds of animals in different parts of Saudi Arabia have died and material damages were also reported.
Saudi meteorologist Jabr Al Dossary confirmed reports that temperature in Riyadh and its surrounding areas will reach minus two degrees Celsius in the next few days.
He ruled out snow in Riyadh and the central region of the kingdom, adding that February would mark the peak of the cold season.
Prices of wood, a traditional fuel, rose sharply. A small truck-load fetched an unprecedented 1,000 Saudi riyals (about Dh980).
The kingdom was hit by the worst cold in four decades, and the deaths were reported in the northern cities of Arar, Rafha, Qirayat Qasim and Hail, local press reports said.
Among the dead was an 11-year-old female pupil. She died a few days ago at her school yard in Jouf. A source at the region's education department told London-based Al Hayat newspaper that "Jawaher, who was in the fifth grade, breathed her last minutes in the morning before classes started".
Last week King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz directed the Ministry of Finance to deliver emergency relief supplies, including foodstuffs, blankets, heaters, sweaters and other materials to be distributed to needy ones affected by the cold weather.
Temperature remains one to nine degree below 0 Celsius in some northern parts of the kingdom.
The kingdom's Grand Mufti, Shaikh Abdul Aziz Bin Abdullah Al Al Shaikh, has called upon philanthropists all over the kingdom to support people affected by the cold spell.
In some parts of the kingdom several schools have stopped morning exercise and parents refused to send their children to schools, reports said.
In Dammam, 60 Asian construction workers refused to report to work before they were given clothes suitable for the cold weather. Their company later responded to their appeals, reports said.
Workers dead
An Indian worker, two Egyptians and a Saudi security man, working at the International Airport in the holy city of Madinah, died of cold.
A source at the Egyptian embassy in Riyadh told Gulf News bodies of the two Egyptians, both in their twenties, were sent home last week. Hundreds of animals in different parts of Saudi Arabia have died and material damages were also reported.
Saudi meteorologist Jabr Al Dossary confirmed reports that temperature in Riyadh and its surrounding areas will reach minus two degrees Celsius in the next few days.
He ruled out snow in Riyadh and the central region of the kingdom, adding that February would mark the peak of the cold season.
Prices of wood, a traditional fuel, rose sharply. A small truck-load fetched an unprecedented 1,000 Saudi riyals (about Dh980).