3 kids drown in swollen drainage canal in Saudi Arabia

By A Robin - March 25, 2022

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Civil defence retrieves bodies of boys aged 7, 10 and 12

Saudi civil defence teams have retrieved the bodies of three children after they drowned in a swollen drainage canal in Hafr Al Batin, north of the Kingdom, local media reported.

Sultan Ragheb Al Rahili, 12, and two brothers: Ghanem Mohammed Al Bathali, 10, and Abdul Rahman Mohammed Al Bathali, 7, were playing near the rain-swollen canal that was earlier caused by floodwater following heavy rain in the northern region.

Father of Sultan Ragheb Al Rahili said: “My son went out to play with his peers in a nearby water pool where he drowned along with two siblings after they were swept away by water.”

Two days prior to the drowning of the three children, two children drowned in a water tunnel under construction in Tabuk, north-western Saudi Arabia.

Saudi media recently reported several drowning deaths related to rain-water pools and ditches.