A total of 120 date palms burned when a fire swept through two plantations outside the northern city of Al-Qurayyat. Civil Defense teams rushed to the scene and put out the fire. There were no casualties reported. Maeesh Al-Ruwaili, spokesman for the Civil Defense in Al-Qurayyat, said the operation room received information about the fire in a date palm farm but by the time the firefighters reached the scene, it had spread to an adjacent plantation. Security authorities did not rule out foul play and an investigation has been launched. Coronavirus claims one more life JEDDAH — The Ministry of Health on Friday reported the death of one more patient in the Kingdom due to coronavirus infection. The 68-year-old Saudi man had contracted the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in Madinah. Meanwhile, the ministry said a 25-year-old Saudi woman was hospitalized in Riyadh after contracting the virus. Her condition is reported to be stable. After a break of several months, MERS has returned to the Kingdom, with a total of 14 new cases currently receiving treatment in various hospitals. The virus was first detected in the Kingdom in September 2012. Since then, 1,391 people had contracted the disease and 596 of them have died. The health authorities urged the public to take all precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the virus, especially while mingling with people in crowded places like souks, commercial centers and workplaces. Two jailed for supporting Daesh RIYADH – The Special Criminal Court in Riyadh sentenced two brothers to prison terms for their association with the Daesh (the so-called IS) group. The court also slapped a travel ban on the duo upon their release from jail. One of the brothers was convicted of openly supporting Daesh and encouraging colleagues to join the terror outfit. He was sentenced to four years in prison. The other defendant was given 10 years in jail for his links with the group and 80 lashes for drinking liquor and drug abuse. The court also ordered to confiscate a computer, mobile phones and weapons, including two revolvers and live ammunitions, seized from him. He was found guilty of openly supporting Daesh and widely using social media to lure youngsters, including colleagues, into the fold of the organization. 12 killed in two separate accidents MADINAH — Nine people were killed and three others injured seriously in an accident on Madinah-Hail Road on Thursday. Two vehicles collided head-on at an intersection about 10 km north of Hail city. Most of the victims were children. The injured were taken to a nearby hospital. In another accident, three people were killed and another critically injured when a car crashed into a trailer truck on Ranyah-Khurma Road on Friday. Blackout as fire hits Arar power plant ARAR — Civil Defense firefighters extinguished a small fire in a power station in the northern city of Arar. The fire, which was minor, started in one of the generator rooms and resulted in a power outage, affecting more than 10,000 consumers in five districts in the eastern part of Arar and Rafha. Muhamamd Al-Masloukhi, director of electricity in the Northern Border Province, said work is under way to restore the power supply. — Okaz/Saudi Gazette
