Saudi Gazette report MADINAH — The news of a horrific traffic accident in which three female teachers were killed and three others injured, one of them seriously last Monday, shocked the residents of Madinah. The survivors are receiving treatment at King Fahd Hospital. Samar Al-Shareef, one of the teachers, sustained head and body injuries. Speaking to a local newspaper, Al-Shareef said she was asleep when the accident occurred and was awakened by the screams of fellow teachers. She then fell unconscious and does not remember anything until she reached hospital. Al-Shareef said on their way to school in the morning, the driver was speeding and he drove into the side curb. The teachers were afraid and asked him to slow down, but he did not. When they left school in the afternoon, he was again speeding. There was also strong wind that caused the vehicle to swerve. Raw'ah Hala has recovered from her injuries, except for some minor scratches. She said she called her mother from school on the day of the accident and told her that she would not ride with the driver. However, in the absence of an alternative means of transport, she had no other choice. Najla'a Al-Jihani is still in intensive care with pelvic fractures and internal abdominal bleeding. Her condition did not allow her to talk and she does not yet know her sister Awatef died in the accident. Awatef's brother Abdulrahman Al-Amri wants Najla'a to be treated abroad in a specialized hospital. He said that proper medical care is lacking in King Fahd Hospital and his sister's condition could worsen. Al-Amri also said that there was no one from the local educational directorate to follow up on the cases. He called for an investigation into the accident, which he claims was the result of women teachers being employed in remote villages. He said proper housing and transportation should be made available to these teachers. In the home of victim Layla Al-Raddadi, a sense of sadness was evident everywhere. Her two-year-old daughter Rana was crawling around calling for her mother. Al-Raddadi's husband is still in shock, and keeps asking how the accident happened. Her father remembers her daily return from work and her early morning trips to the school. Ghadeer Al-Raddadi, who died in the accident, was engaged and was due to be married in three months. Her husband had already rented and furnished their apartment. She was to be transferred to a school in Madinah and he brought forward their wedding date. She was 28 and graduated from college with a degree in computer science. A few days before her death she painted a white dove, and underneath she wrote: “I ask for forgiveness.” In her last message on the WhatsApp messaging application, she asked God for forgiveness for her and for all her fellow Muslims, dead or alive. Four days before her death she visited the Prophet's Mosque. Her father said that she was alive when she arrived at the hospital. He blamed the air ambulance, which did not arrive until half an hour after the accident, for his daughter's death. He also accused the hospital of carrying out lengthy procedures before he could receive his daughter's body. His daughter was admitted at 2 p.m. and her body was not released until 7 p.m., he said. He also said no one from the local educational directorate was at the hospital, although he received a call from the directorate the next day. The father said the driver was receiving SR2,000 a month from each teacher to transport them back and forth.
