Man dies saving family from fire

A Saudi man was burned to death after braving the fire to rescue his family that was caught up in the blaze at their house in the Gulf Kingdom, the Saudi Arabic language online paper Shams reported on Saturday.

Halil Al-Harthi, 51, was heading back home with breakfast for family when he saw the blaze engulfing the two-storey villa in the central town of Taif.

“He saw his wife and child screaming through the window of his house in the second floor…he rushed up through the blaze and the smoke and brought them out of the villa safe,” the paper said.

“He then returned to the house to try and put out the fire so it will not spread to other houses…but he was engulfed in the fire and died there.”

The paper said thousands of mourner attended Al-Harthi’s funeral in Taif on Friday. “They all know what this brave man had done…he defied the fire and risked his life to save his family and stop the fire from spreading.”

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.