Saudi Gazette report

 

DAMMAM — A Saudi student at Tennessee Tech University was killed when he was run over by his friend in the US city of Coalfield, Tennessee, Al-Hayat newspaper reported.



Muhammad Al-Badi’s friend dropped him off in the early hours of Saturday at his house but then reportedly tried to joke with him by pretending to hit him with his car.



The friend is said to have lost control of the vehicle and ran over Al-Badi, injuring him severely. According to a police report, Al-Badi’s friend was drunk at the time.



All attempts to save the Saudi’s life failed and he died shortly after arriving at the hospital. No official statement was issued on the incident.



The victim’s family is in Jeddah and preparing to receive his body for burial. It is the second time in the space of a month that a Saudi student on scholarship has been killed in America.



Nawaf Al-Otaibi, friend of the victim and from the same university, said Al-Badi did not have any enemies but disputes the reported version of the events.



He claimed the friend ran over him three times with his car and that the driver was drunk at that time and had a disagreement with the victim.



Abdulaziz Al-Dossary, another friend, said the accident happened around 4 a.m. and the security department did not issue any statement regarding the case.



He said the incident could have happened after a fight between the pair.  He said the victim was 23. “He studied in Coalfield for two years and we heard about the incident 12 hours after it happened.



“Muhammad was good at his studies and was living alone. “I heard that all his family traveled to Jeddah and is waiting to receive the body of their son.”



Al-Hayat newspaper attempted to contact the Saudi Embassy in Washington for a comment. An employee at the embassy’s cultural mission responsible for receiving the complaints of students on scholarships, Saad Al-Sakheb, said he was not authorized to comment on this case.



He did say the cultural mission had not received any news of the incident. He told the paper that the official spokesman at the embassy was not available because it was the weekend.