Over the years, rescue teams have embarked on dozens of missions in the vast deserts of Saudi Arabia. Target? Find those who had been lost in the vast and arid desert. The vast majority were found within 24 hours. Some were miraculously rescued, beating the odds of surviving in the area. Last year, unfortunately, another 131 people, unprepared or ignorant of the dangers of the desert, never returned.
The country’s solution has been to throw away technology. Install lasers of light to guide the lost on their journey through the sands.
Danger. The vast desert of Nafud in the north of the Kingdom is known for its scarce water sources. People with or without experience in the outdoors can get lost in the huge arid stretches of the desert. Even with strong survival skills, it can be a cold and dangerous place to go and come out unscathed.
Annually, +100 people are lost in the huge deserts of Saudi Arabia, and ~half of them die and disappear.
So the government decided last year to install 11 solar-powered laser lights to point out wells and fountains to the lost. ⛲️ pic.twitter.com/lFWGFGSQgf
— Nao Casanova (@NaoCasanova) February 5, 2022
The initiative. That is why Mohammad Fohaid Al-Sohaiman Al-Rammali, an environmental activist and explorer, came up with an initiative to place laser light beacons near water sources in the desert after experiencing several rescue attempts in the area north of Hail. “Many people lost their lives in the desert near water sources because they didn’t know they were near them,” he explained.
With the help of a specialized company under the supervision of the Ministry of Environment, Agriculture and Water, the first of 11 solar-powered light beacons was turned on last week, and the rest will be turned on in the coming weeks. His initiative caught the attention of one of the region’s leading businessmen, who will invest enough money to install 100 beacons between Hail and Jouf.
More than half of Saudi Arabia’s area is desert. The country has three main deserts. Rub’ al Khali extends over much of the southeast and beyond the southern border. It is one of the largest sand deserts in the world. Partly unexplored, Rub’ al Khali has an estimated area of around 650,000 square kilometers with smaller portions in Yemen, Oman and the United Arab Emirates.
An Nafud (or Greater Nafud) is a red-sand highland desert covering an area of 64,000 square kilometers. It is located at an elevation of 900 meters in the northern part of the Arabian Peninsula. It has been a barrier to travel for years; its frequent sand storms form immense dunes and it is characterized by its sudden violent winds.
missing. According to a report issued by Enjad, a volunteer search and rescue team, last year there were more than 13,000 vehicles stranded in the deserts, 7,395 of which in the Riyadh region, 2,098 in Qassim, 1,335 in the Eastern Province, 637 in Hail and 20 in Jouf. The number of people lost and stranded in the desert was 142 in 2020. Twenty-eight lost their lives, 14 are still missing while the remaining 100 are now in good condition.