Youngster dies in drifting stunt

May 28, 2014

Jeddah, May 28: A young Saudi national has died in Qassim after falling from a pickup truck when the driver performed a drifting stunt, according to local media.

This was the first death recorded from drifting since the final examinations started on Sunday, according to the report.

Young Saudis engage in drifting maneuvers during examination periods. “The dead man was traveling in a Hilux pickup vehicle with friends and fell from the vehicle during the drifting stunt and died on the spot,” a source reportedly said.

In a related development, police in Bisha arrested 10 drifters and their accomplices in the city, after receiving a tipoff, while the Jeddah police arrested 60 students for the same offense.

Brig. Gen. Zaid Al-Hamzi, spokesman for the Jeddah traffic department, told Arab News that most were intermediary and secondary level students.

The students were released but had to sign statements that they would have to face legal action after writing their final examinations.

Penalties include having the vehicle confiscated for 15 days and a fine of SR1,000.

For repeat offenders, the punishment could mean imprisonment, the seizure of the vehicle for a month, and a fine of SR1,500.

If a student is caught drifting a third time, the court would definitely imprison him, confiscate the vehicle and fine him SR2,000.

Al-Hamzi said the department is cracking down on the practice.

Traffic patrols have been positioned close to schools to ensure order, including helping students get to their examinations on time.

He said many traffic patrols have been deployed on the city’s roads to ease traffic flow and assist students. “Sometimes students’ vehicles break down on their way to school, and the patrols help them get there quickly,” he said.

Many undercover policemen are operating close to schools, he said.

The department has coordinated its efforts with the education department in Jeddah to prevent students from leaving the school grounds during breaks, said Al-Hamzi.

He said traffic light systems are updated on a regular basis to keep pace with the number of cars on the road at any given time, particularly on main roads.

“Trucks are strictly forbidden from entering cities, traveling on highways and the Al-Khair overpass during peak times because this causes traffic congestion.” Drivers would be punished for failing to comply, he said.

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Syrian Town erupts after Israeli forces enter Beit Jinn; heavy casualties reported

News Network

November 28,2025

Several Syrians were killed and more than two dozen others injured in Israeli strikes on the outskirts of Damascus, amid intensified incursions by the occupying regime since the fall of former president Bashar al-Assad and the rise of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rule.

Syrian state TV reported that the casualties occurred during an overnight Israeli assault involving helicopters and drones on the town of Beit Jinn in the Damascus countryside. The attack followed an Israeli military unit’s entry into the town, where they were surrounded by local residents, leading to gunfire and direct confrontations.

According to the report, “The occupation army’s helicopters and artillery shelled Beit Jinn, located at the foothills of Mount Hermon, resulting in 13 martyrs and 25 injured civilians.” The broadcaster did not specify the full extent of damage.

Al-Ikhbariyah Syria confirmed that the shelling coincided with Israeli soldiers entering Beit Jinn, while artillery pounded surrounding areas. The broadcaster stated that the escalation began after local residents clashed with an Israeli patrol that had infiltrated the southern town and “kidnapped” three young men.

Following a two-hour exchange of heavy fire, Israeli forces withdrew and repositioned on the hill of Butt al-Warda at the town’s outskirts.

Israeli media acknowledged that six soldiers were wounded in the clashes—three of them seriously—describing the confrontation as a “sudden ambush” that forced the deployment of reserve units and air support to secure an exit route. No further details were provided.

The aggression has fueled renewed displacement from Beit Jinn, with residents fleeing to nearby villages amid increasingly frequent Israeli attacks.

The raid came just a day after Israeli troops carried out another ground incursion into Umm al-Luqas village in Quneitra province. According to SANA, an Israeli unit in four vehicles entered the village, raided several homes, and later withdrew.

Syria condemned the repeated incursions as violations of the 1974 Disengagement Agreement and UN resolutions, urging the international community to enforce compliance and pressure Israel to halt its operations and withdraw fully.

Israel has expanded its attacks across Syrian territory following the collapse of the Assad government last year. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly instructed his forces to push deeper into Syrian territory and seize strategic positions.

Meanwhile, critics say the HTS-led interim government’s inaction and growing normalization gestures toward Israel have emboldened Tel Aviv to intensify its military operations. HTS, formerly linked to al-Qaeda, seized control of Damascus last December, formally ending Assad’s rule.

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