Saudi Embassy in Australia explains circumstances on a missing

Canberra, April 06, SPA -- The Saudi Embassy in Australia issued here
today a statement on the circumstances that led to the missing of
Hassan Mohammed Al Qahtani who is studying at the University of
Wollongong (UOW) and has been missing since Thursday (April 02, 2009)
when he went to sea for swimming on Wollongong beach.


The statement elaborated the efforts that had been made by the
Embassy and the Australian authorities to find him, adding that the
Saudi Ambassador to Australia, Hassan Talaat Nazer, and the Saudi
Cultural Attaché Dr. Ali Al Beshri had visited the site of the
incident and held a meeting with Australian police in the presence of
the missing student's family.


The Australian officials provided an explanation on the quick
actions undertaken as soon as they had been informed about it,
deploying a 47 members rescue team along with a search-helicopter and
in cooperation with the city municipality as well as a number of
volunteers.


"The Embassy continues follow-up search procedures with the
Australian authorities to learn about the fate of the missing
student.
The Embassy received at 5.30 AM on Thursday, April 02, 2009 a
telephone call from a Saudi national who informed that the Saudi post
graduate student on Scholarship - Hasan Mohammed Mohammed Al Qahtani
from Saudi Food & Drug Authority (SFDA) was missing after he went to
the sea for swimming, and that the police reached the scene within 15
minutes and that the police could not find him," the statement said.


"The Saudi Embassy assigned an embassy official to travel to the
city of Wollongong to follow up the investigation and findings about
Al-Qahtani's disappearance. The findings had shown that Al-Qahtani
and three of his colleagues had gone to a nearby restaurant and had
left the restaurant at 21.30 midnight. At 01.30 hour, the missing
student and two of his colleagues had gone to the sea for swimming
despite high waves and strong winds which were not suitable for
swimming at that time. While they were in the water, Al Qahtani was
ahead of the rest of his colleagues, and then he was hit by high
waves and subsequently submerged into the sea while the others
managed to return back to the beach. He was seen from a distance of
20 meters, and then disappeared from the surface.


In the meantime, the missing student's family called Ambassador
Nazer and expressed their desire to travel to Australia as soon as
possible. On his part, the Ambassador coordinated with the Australian
Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Kevin Magee to offer help
and grant visas for relatives. The father of the student and three of
the student's relatives arrived in Australia on Sunday, April 09,
2009 and were received by the Embassy and their travel to the site of
the incident was facilitated," the statement disclosed.


"The embassy is currently following up search procedures with the
Australian authorities for further clarifications about the fate of
the missing student," the statement said.

--SPA