The Investigation and Public Prosecution Authority has taken charge of the investigation into the death of a young man and a young woman on Madina-Tabuk highway on Sunday during a chase by two agents of the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice who are currently in detention for interrogation. One of the two agents has been previously interrogated over the death of a Saudi citizen at the Commission's Center in Tabuk's Sultana area last year. Witnesses said the young man with the woman in his Camry car took off at full speed upon spotting the Commission's agents in an SUV. He while sharply veering into the opposite lane, lost control of the car and slammed head-on into a truck, bursting into flames. The man's body was totally charred. The woman's head was severed and her body was torn into two, according to sources at King Khaled Hospital where the bodies were taken. While witnesses assert that the Commission's white SUV was chasing the Camry at high speed, the Commission's director general in Tabuk, Sheikh Suleiman Al-Onaizi, said such testimonies should not be taken for granted pending the findings of the investigation. The witnesses said they stood helpless to save or assist the victims who perished in the blaze. The truck driver managed to scramble out and escape uninjured. Reacting to the uproar over the deaths, the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in Tabuk issued a statement carrying the signature of Sheikh Suleiman Al-Onaizi, director general of the Commission's Branch in Tabuk. The statement said that in view of conflicting eyewitness accounts, the Commission would be issuing another communiqué once all the facts are established. The young man has been identified. At his home village, Zabran, located 25 kilometers off the southwest of Khaibar's governorate, citizens filed into the his home to offer their condolences. The young man (name withheld) was planning to get married in July to his cousin. His family has filed a request to take possession of his body for burial. According to the Sheikh of the young man's tribe, the victim was a deeply religious person: “Instead of chasing him, proper security procedures, such as reporting him to police stations and checkpoints, should have been followed,” the Sheikh said. The victim's neighbors said that his family lives in a spartan house and that he has a sister and two brothers, one of whom had suffered a stroke. His mother is bed-ridden and unable to attend to her needs. His only sister fainted on hearing about his death and was taken to Khaibar's General Hospital. The identity of the young girl in his company remained unknown at the time of going to press. No reports of missing persons, which could lead to identification of the girl, have been received. Tabuk's Police Department said crime is not ruled out. Police has identified the two young men who tipped off the Commission's agents that they saw the girl getting in the young man's car in downtown Tabuk. An official at Al-Woroud Center said that he got the tip-off but was reluctant to release information on the informant and his cell phone number, but finally conceded to do so. The two informants, who police called on their cell phones, tried to dodge responsibility at first, pretending to be outside Tabuk, but they soon confessed, giving full details of the story. Meanwhile, the Commission's chief Sheikh Ibrahim Al-Ghaith said after gracing an in-house “Integrated Performance” course that the organization seeks to become modernized, sophisticated and creative through day-to-day work and holding intensive courses to improve performance. – Additional reporting by Khaled Al-Jabri in Madina and Ziyad Al-Damjani of Okaz Arabic daily in Khaybar __
