Okaz/Saudi Gazette

 

AL-KHARJ — First Lt. Hatim Al-Dhyabi was airlifted from King Fahd Military Medical Complex in Dhahran to Prince Sultan Military Medical City in Riyadh on directives of Crown Prince Salman Bin Abdul Aziz, Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister, Thursday night.



Al-Dhyabi, was wounded when assailants chased and unsuccessfully attempted to kidnap him. Al-Dhybai was on his way to his horse stable when he accidentally ended up in Al-Awamiyah neighborhood in Qatif.Lost, he asked bystanders for directions. Suddenly, he was attacked by assailants who frisked him and took his wallet. He got into the car and sped off but the men chased him on motorbikes and opened fire. He was shot multiple times.



Bleeding, he stopped at a restaurant and asked workers to take him to a nearby health clinic. When Al-Dhyabi was admitted to the clinic, the assailants barged into his room and attempted to kidnap him. He immediately called the Red Crescent and an ambulance was sent. The assailants escaped on hearing police sirens.



He was taken to King Fahd Military Medical Complex in Dhahran where surgery was preformed to remove the bullets. Doctors said one of the bullets missed his heart by a few millimeters. Another pierced his diaphragm.



Al-Dhyabi later identified the four men from police mugshots.



Also, Prince Muhammad Bin Naif, Assistant Minister of Interior for Security Affairs, gave directives for airlifting three firefighters to King Abdul Aziz City at the National Guard in Riyadh. The firefighters were seriously injured while trying to put out a blaze that gutted a confectionery shop in the central vegetable market in Al-Kharj on Thursday.