Khalid Al-Balahidi
Okaz/Saudi Gazette
DAMMAM — Investigations have revealed that the fire that broke out recently in a house in Dammam and claimed the lives of three children was caused by an electrical short circuit, according to the Eastern Province Civil Defense.
The family said four of the children were playing in one of the rooms when the fire started.
One of the children was able to escape and tell the family about the fire while the other three got trapped inside the room and hid behind the couches, thinking that the fire would not reach them.
By the time the mother of two of the children reached the room, the blaze had already swept through the entire place and killed all three children inside, including her two sons Younis and Yehya and nephew Rayan.
Abdul Wahab Al-Ghamdi, Younis and Yehya’s father, said he would never be able to erase the image of seeing his two sons and Rayan holding each other while the blaze engulfed them.
He said: “It was very painful to see them die.”
He said Prince Jalawi Bin Abdul Aziz, Deputy Emir of the Eastern Province, visited them and offered his condolences to the family.
“Prince Jalawi’s visit and words gave us strength to deal with this disaster, which claimed the lives of three lovely kids.”
Rayan’s father, Ahmed Al-Ghamdi, said his wife broke down and cried when she learned that her son had died in the blaze.
She is currently being treated for a nervous breakdown, he said.
He said all his family members are suffering from deep depression because of the accident.
They felt very sad every time they saw pictures of the three children on social networking sites, he said.
Dr. Muhammad Al-Zahrani, director of Al-Amal Mental Health Complex, Eastern Province, said such incidents can have a serious impact on affected families.
Some people who see such devastating scenes might develop some kind of a chronic condition or become worried and very nervous all the time, he said.
Some of them might have nightmares constantly and have difficulty sleeping, Al-Zahrani claimed.
