Indian gas station attendant loses life over SR20 bill

By Irfan Mohammed

Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — An Indian attendant at a gas station here lost his life over merely SR20 as an unknown customer shoved and pushed him when he demanded money after filling the fuel tank of the man's car.

Khaja Moinuddin, 37, worked at the gas station in Kilo 5. After filling the gas tank, he demanded money from the alleged culprit who tried to flee the station without settling the dues.

Moinuddin died on Sunday of wounds he sustained in the scuffle. The death occurred three days after the incident, according to family sources.

As a fresh, faithful and loyal employee, Moinuddin not only insisted on payment but also attempted to prevent the fleeing customer, who hit with him with car door and fled from the station, they added.

The fallen attendant suffered serious injuries in his head and was immediately rushed a leading public hospital where he battled for life for three days and finally succumbed to his injuries on Sunday, they added.

Sources also said that Moinuddin's medical insurance coverage was not sufficient to cover his treatment. His friends, also doing menial jobs, were running from pillar to post for money to be deposited at the hospital for the treatment.

The deceased, a father of three young children, hailed from a poor family. He came to the Kingdom a year ago to find a job. After a hard struggle, he managed to find the attendant job on temporary basis last month. His iqama (residency permit) is due for expiry soon.

The family is worried over the expenditure involved in chemical embalming and airfreight to repatriate mortal remains of the deceased back home. A source said that it would be a herculean task for the family to bear the cost as it was not being able to pay rent for their single room house back in Jagtyal district in the south Indian state of Telangana, for a year.

Most gas station attendants go through the trauma and stress each day with various types of behavior of some customers and their exposure to negative health conditions with hydrocarbon vapors. Benzene is considered a most hazardous component of hydrocarbon.