Five members of a Saudi family were killed and two seriously injured when a fire broke out in their house in the Security Forces' compound in Jeddah early Saturday. The dead have been identified as Mohammed Al-Shehri, 90; Sara Al-Shehri, 44, the wife of the house occupant; Ali Al-Shehri, 12, and Abdul Aziz Al-Shehri, 10, sons of the house occupant, and his 5-year-old daughter Ahlam Al-Shehri. The fire started at about 12:30 a.m. and continued till 3 a.m. in the two-story house on Al-Arbaeen Street. The cause of the fire is being investigated. About ten Civil Defense tankers and ambulances rushed to the spot. Eyewitnesses said that it took about 15 minutes for the civil defense to reach the 29th unit in the compound, where the house is located. According to Abdul Rahman Al-Dosi, a neighbor, about seven members were living in the house with their two female housemaids and a driver. “I was walking toward my house when I saw my neighbor escaping holding his 12-year-old son,” Al-Dosi said. He said he tried to get inside to help the others but the smoke was too heavy. “It was too hot; the smoke was too thick, flames were just too close so I left the building,” he said. The family was sleeping when the fire broke out and the victims failed to escape as they were found dead in different areas of the house. “Except for the old handicapped man, the rest of the family members were brought out of the house, but the four succumbed to their injuries,” Al-Dosi told the Saudi Gazette. Police is questioning the two maids and the driver, who fled the house before the family, and were found about 200 meters from the house. “I talked to Al-Shehri who told me that he tried to evacuate his 90-year-old father but he failed,” Al-Dosi added. According to Captain Abdullah Al-Amri, spokesman of the Civil Defense in Makkah region, investigators suspect short-circuit from two air-conditioners on the first floor. There are more than 100 units in the security forces compound which was mainly designed for the families of Ministry of Interior staff in Jeddah. __
