12-year-old boy injured in Saham mosque accident dies

Energy Wednesday 20/June/2018 21:56 PM
By: Times News Service
12-year-old boy injured in Saham mosque accident dies

Muscat: A 12-year-old boy seriously injured after a piece of a mosque’s minaret fell and struck him on the head has died in hospital, his family has confirmed.
“My brother is now with God” Abduljaleel, the deceased boy Abdulrahman’s brother, told Times of Oman.
“Abdulrahman’s condition was critical in the past few days, due to multiple and severe injuries to his head. He was placed on maximum supportive care to treat his condition, but unfortunately he died today [Wednesday] at 11:30 AM,” said an official from Sohar hospital.
“Resuscitation was done but, unfortunately, we could not revive him,” the official added.
Abdulrahman was admitted to Sohar hospital on June 11 at 3:45 AM after suffering severe head injuries, which he received after being struck by fallen pieces of a mosque’s minaret.
“He was in a coma and on a mechanical ventilator from June 11 until the day he died,” the Sohar hospital official said.
Abdulrahman was standing under the minaret of his local mosque when a piece of masonry apparently broke off and struck him.
“He was waiting for his friends to finish ablution so they could go and pray. That is when a piece of the minaret fell on his head, fracturing his skull and causing severe internal bleeding,” said his father, Yasir.
“We live next to the mosque. As soon as it happened his friends ran to our house and told us. I will never forget the scene,” Yasir added, “We rushed him to the hospital here in Saham, where we were transferred by ambulance to Sohar Hospital.” Since arriving at Sohar hospital, Abdulrahman was treated in the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit.
Officials from the Department of Awqaf and Religious Affairs in Northern Batinah have since issued a statement announcing that the mosque has been closed.
The statement said that the department would like to inform the public of the immediate and final closure of the mosque in the Wilayat of Saham as of 26 Ramadan/June 11, 2018 in view of the decline of the mentioned mosque and its effect on the coastal road.
Abdulrahman leaves behind seven siblings who live with his parents in a small village in Saham.
“This is the only mosque we have in the village and at times, as during Eid prayers, nearly 600 people would gather to pray in it,” Yasir noted.
“It is good that the mosque is now closed, but it has to be demolished so that no one else is harmed. A temporary mosque can be built somewhere else.”