Members of the Shoura Council have reacted positively to the decision by Prince Salman Bin Abdul Aziz, Emir of Riyadh to open an investigation into the case of the Shoura Council member who was left dead on the street for three hours. Mansour Abdulghaffar died of a heart attack while out jogging last Sunday evening and was left lying dead for three hours before receiving attention from on-site police officers or medical teams, a state of affairs which has caused dismay in many circles and prompted Prince Salman to order an enquiry into the possibility of negligence in emergency procedures. The body had not been attended until a forensic arrived. Shoura Council members have added their voices to the wave of concern surrounding the death of Abdulghaffar, and have called for a revision of procedures to enable authorities to act promptly and appropriately in such incidents. Contradictions Concerns center on the response by authorities to the incident and a number of conflicting accounts. Dr. Seraj Mira, member of the Shoura Council, rushed to the scene of the incident after receiving information of his friend's death. Mira was surprised to hear of the statement from the forensic medicine authorities which said that the forensic team had arrived at the scene within 34 minutes of reporting the death. Dr. Mira said that he had been present at the scene for more than an hour before the doctor arrived. He tried to examine Abdulghaffar, but he was stopped from doing so for legal reasons, he said. Eye witnesses further said that Abdulghaffar did not die immediately, intimating that a swifter response might have saved his life. The delay has also prompted the National Human Rights Society (NHRS) to raise the issue of accidents and accident procedures. Further queries The bad news traveled fast. Shoura Council member Suleiman Al-Zaidi was one of the first to hear the news of Abdulghaffar's death. He said he received a phone call from one of the late member's friends saying that Abdulghaffar had been found dead on Al-Olayya Street in Riyadh. Al-Zaidi and four other Council members, among them Dr. Mira, then rushed to the scene, after which a Red Crescent ambulance arrived. Paramedics then confirmed the death, something which Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Suailim, former President of the Saudi Red Crescent Society, says does not fall under their authority. “The only case in which paramedics are authorized to announce a death,” Al-Suailim says, “is when the head is separated from the body.” Al-Zaidi and other witnesses further added that the paramedics left the deceased body exposed until a cover was brought from Abdulghaffar's house. Dr. Bandar Al-Hajar, member of the Shoura Council and Chairman of the National Human Rights Society, said the incident poses questions about a whole range of procedures. The Society would raise the issue and push for a revision of procedures, he added. The five Shoura members present at the scene were Muhammed Al-Ghamdi, Saud Al-Subai, Seraj Mira, Saud Al-Subaind and Suleiman Al-Zaidi. – Okaz __
