Soldier delivers pilgrim's baby in tunnel

A Saudi soldier had no choice but to phone his wife and get a quick lesson on emergency delivery as he tried to save the life of a pregnant Egyptian woman who went into labour in a packed tunnel while on pilgrimage in the Gulf Kingdom.

The soldier was trying to end massive traffic congestion inside a car tunnel in the central town of Makkah when he saw a man wailing and shouting for help, the Arabic language daily Alriyadh reported on Tuesday.

“The soldier forgot about the congestion and rushed to the man, who told him that his wife is about to deliver inside the car,” the paper said.

“The soldier phoned his wife and sought some information about such a situation…he then spread a mattress on the ground and laid the pregnant women on it…with the help of her Yemeni husband, he pulled the baby boy out, wrapped him and handed him over to his mother…the parents were so happy that they started to cry and decided to call the baby after the soldier.”