“Dangerous area. No swimming," reads the warning sign on South Corniche the family ignored. — Al-Madinah photoJEDDAH — The five victims who drowned late Tuesday at beach in South Corniche were laid to rest in Al-Faisaleya and Al-Ajaweed cemeteries in Jeddah. The five victims drowned as a current swept them away in a no-swimming zone. The victims were identified as a 53-year-old-man, his 19-year-old fiance and her three siblings aged 11, 12 and 13. Police said the family had ignored clearly posted signs warning of the dangerous waters. The Coast Guard rushed to the location with experienced divers who were able to recover the bodies of the victims. More than 30 divers participated in recovering the bodies. The bodies were taken to King Abdulaziz Hospital and later released to their families. According to sources, the man stopped in an area near a no-swimming zone sign and decided to go for a swim with his fiance and her siblings. When the five began drowning, the children's mother, who had stayed behind, contacted the Coast Guard. The body of the man was recovered at 11 pm Tuesday night and the bodies of the three girls were recovered after midnight while the body of the 11-year-old boy was recovered much later. The father of the three girls and the boy thanked the Coast Guard for recovering the bodies of his children. “My family left at around 5 p.m. to have a picnic. At around 6 p.m. they started swimming. After a while, my youngest child felt cold and his mother took him out of the water. Then, moments later, a huge wave sucked all of them underwater. My wife started screaming and calling for help but no one around was able to rescue them. When she calmed down a little, she contacted the Coast Guard after getting the number from the sign close to the water. They then arrived shortly after and recovered the bodies." “The hours we spent not knowing whether our children's bodies would be retrieved or not were very painful... It's very hard to look at the bodies of my children but I'm glad they were able to retrieve them from the sea," he said while choking back tears. A Coast Guard official warned people to stay away from no-swimming zones and said the clearly-visible signs had been erected to warn people. — SG
