The uncle of the Arab expatriate who was stabbed in the abdomen and had his windpipe and neck cut in a brutal attack Wednesday, has filed a complaint over the refusal of a public hospital to treat him. The public hospital has subsequently agreed to treat him. The uncle was quoted Friday in an Arabic daily as saying that the complaint was filed at the Directorate of Health Affairs against King Fahd Hospital. He said the hospital refused to treat his nephew and transferred him to Dr. Erfan General Hospital, a private hospital, where 12 operations were performed at considerable cost to the family. He said the Director of Jeddah Police had issued an order for his nephew's transfer to King Fahd Hospital and for an armed guard to protect him against a possible second attack by his assailants. However, the hospital administration told the family that it did not have a bed available in its Intensive Care Unit. Dr. Salim Basalamah, Director of King Fahd Hospital, said the hospital was under pressure, but the Arab expatriate will now be provided a room and treatment by specialists. Meanwhile, Brig. Misfer Al-Je'aid, spokesman of Jeddah Police, said a team from the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) is looking for the unidentified assailants who stabbed and slit the throat of the Arab expatriate in his apartment. He said the young man cannot talk after the attackers cut part of his neck and windpipe with a razor blade. They also cut arteries on his right hand and stabbed him several times in the abdomen. He was able to describe his assailants by writing and drawing. The criminals are of African descent.
