MADINAH — Police here arrested a cook working at Wadi Al-Far' Hospital for incorrectly storing meat in his friend's refrigerator until the meat went rotten and then cooking it and serving it to patients at the hospital. Police spokesman Fahd Al-Ghanam said when officers arrested nine illegal expatriates recently, one of them had an underground refrigerator full of rotten meat, which prompted officers to investigate. “The refrigerator had 200 kg of rotten meat stored incorrectly. The illegal expatriate was questioned about the meat and he said it belonged to his friend who works as a cook at the hospital,” said Al-Ghanam. When asked why his friend was using his refrigerator to store the meat, the man said the hospital's refrigerator stopped working so his friend asked to use his instead. “We then went to the cook and found that he had an even bigger refrigerator at his own residence and he admitted that he was storing the meat because the hospital's refrigerator broke down. However, the meat in the fridge was also stored incorrectly. The cook also admitted that he would cook the meat and serve it to patients at the hospital,” said Al-Ghanam. He added that the story has been widely circulated on social media websites and the general public voiced concern about other services offered by the hospital. Wadi Al-Far' Health Affairs Director Hamed Al-Sahli said allegations leveled against the hospital by social media users are untrue and added that the hospital was not responsible for the cook's actions. “The hospital did not provide the cook with the meat nor did it authorize him to store it in his house. What the police found at his house and his friend's house belongs to both of them and the hospital does not need to interfere. We would never jeopardize the health of our patients,” said Al-Sahli.
