It is the only paved road in the outskirts of Arsal, where Arsal cherry and apricot orchards and rock quarries are located, towards the town. The Aqabat Al-Jard road towards Wadi Atta, which is the harsh road and “what else is as tarnished” is used by the sons of Arsal, including farmers and workers in rock quarries, to transport their crops from the barrens to the town, in preparation for transporting them to the markets.
accident happened
Yesterday afternoon, fate decided that Youssef Al-Fulaiti would finish picking his cherries and apricots with members of the family consisting of his wife Fatoum Hussein Al-Fulaiti, his two sons Baha and Muhammad, his two daughters Huda and Nora, and her husband Shehadeh Khaled Al-Fulaiti. He then headed from his orchard in the inventory to his home by his pick-up through the paved hurdle obstacle course.
Deeb Muhammad Ghadada, a young man in his thirties, had also finished preparing the load of rock from one of the town’s quarries to go to the same road, the Jurd Obstacle – Wadi Atta, as is the custom of other truck drivers. But Ghadada, the father of seven children, the eldest of whom is 11 years old, lost control of his truck to overwhelm Yousef Al-Fulaiti’s pick-up, before choosing to crash into the town’s water well, which has been equipped since the 1980s with a huge tank and concrete support walls.
The catastrophe is great. Al-Fulaiti died with his family members and son-in-law (and two daughters who were not present survived), while Ghaddad transferred a wounded man to Al-Rahma Hospital, and his condition required him to be transferred to Al-Jitaoui Hospital because of the severe burns he sustained. But this did not happen, and he was not admitted to the hospital, not even to the emergency room, according to a statement by MP Melhem Al-Hujairi, who demanded “a quick investigation with the administration of Al-Jitaawi Hospital, because it did not admit a wounded person in a critical condition even to the emergency room,” stressing that “the hospital’s behavior is not responsible.” It is just one of the simplest human and moral duties and calls for the prosecution of those who disregard people’s lives.”
The municipality calls for paving the roads leading to the barrens, where the orchards and quarries are located
unpaved roads
The neglect experienced by the town, which for more than ten years has hosted more than twice the number of its displaced people, is the same one that was teeming with officials morning and evening before it was liberated from terrorist and takfiri groups, showering its people with development and service promises. The vast area of the sprawling town in the eastern chain at the borders of the country, there is no paved road connecting the town to the middle and upper Jardin, except for the road of Aqabat Al Mubaida – Aqabat Al Jard – Wadi Atta, noting that there are other roads that can be relied upon if they are paved, such as Wadi Hamid and Wadi Wadi Hawthorn, and Wadi Al-Rayan, but they are all unsuitable for walking, and the brides and Syrians do not use them because of their ruggedness.
Mayor of Arsal Basil Al-Hujairi confirmed to Al-Akhbar that there are less dangerous roads in Arsal, but they are not used due to the lack of interest in them by the state, explaining that he asked the army yesterday to close the Aqabat Al-Jard-Wadi Atta road in front of large vehicles as a result of the accident. To distribute the mechanisms on other roads, even if they are not asphalted, in order to reduce the risks to which the bridegroom is exposed.
Risks of working in the rock
It does not only summarize the risks that Arsal residents face on the roads, but there are also risks in the rock sector itself. Arsal loses a number of its children in various emergency accidents, as Rima Karnabi, a member of the Arsal municipal council, confirms to Al-Akhbar. Karnaby points out the importance of the ornamental stone in Arsal’s economy and in providing job opportunities for hundreds of families. Do not hide that the sector was subjected to great damage during the events that took place in the barrens of Arsal, and then the diesel crisis that exhausted the entire sector, and reduced its institutions from 600 institutions working in the field of ornamental stone, from quarries to lathes through sawmills to nearly a quarter. He works in every institution and at an average rate of between 6 to 7 workers in addition to the owners of sawmills or quarries, while the danger is that this work requires “awareness, knowledge, and precautionary and preventive measures that are almost non-existent, especially since rock blasting actions lead to the injury of a number of workers.” In their eyes and bodies as a result of the lack of precaution, and a number of those who deal with saws were subjected to having their hands or fingers cut off, in addition to the dangers of “Kamkha” pools (dust and water that collect from the effects of rock cutting works in open pools, which are like sticky quicksand), because they are not Equipped with a tray or a fence, children and even workers drowned in it while it was being cleaned. Karnabi confirms that Arsal “lost a number of its children years ago because of these ponds, and we asked the owners of the sawmills to build walls around these ponds, but no one adhered to it.”
Karnaby stresses the necessity of “self-awareness” from owners of saws, quarries, and trucks, and inspecting mechanisms periodically so as not to lose a driver or civilian people, as happened the day before yesterday.”
And if anyone bears responsibility for the Arsal disaster, it is the state because of its neglect of its most basic development services, and it must bear its responsibilities towards its people, in terms of paving the roads that are used daily by its citizens and its army, and it must also re-activate the inspections of mechanisms and cars with the aim of providing public safety. For everyone, except for the effective health and hospital supervision in monitoring the performance of hospitals, and the death of citizens at their doors!