A weekend picnic turned out to be a catastrophe when six family members gave their lives trying to save their 5-year-old boy when he was swept out to a lake in Najran Thursday. The family was on a weekend picnic on the side of the Sabayia (or Beautiful Ladies) Lake in Al-Hosin village, about 60 km off Najran, when little Ahmad strayed away and slipped into the water. Rushing to the lake to rescue the boy, six of the family members drowned one by one after unsuccessful attempts. They were trapped in the water and were eventually plunged into the bottom of the 3-m deep lake. The Civil Defense was alerted to the incident and dispatched a sub-aqua unit to locate the bodies, said Najran Civil Defense spokesman Col. Muhammad Yahya Al-Qahtani. The surviving members of the Suwaidans were Sayida, 12 and Muhammad, 22. The deceased were identified as Ahmad, 5; Muhammad, 27; Muhammad, 32; Saleh, 16; Abdullah, 19; Saadi, 30 and Mayia, 28. The bodies were pulled from the lake by 3 P.M. and were transferred to King Khaled Hospital in Najran. – Okaz __
