Saudi security forces have found the bodies of a Qatari couple who lost their way in the Empty Quarter desert recently.
Maj. Bandar Al-Thaqil, spokesman of the aircraft command of the security forces at the Ministry of Interior, said in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) yesterday, that a search by his units made the tragic discovery.
“The aerial operations center of the security forces received a report of two citizens of the Gulf Cooperation Council missing in the desert. The center’s helicopters immediately started a search operation." "They first found the couple’s car with a woman’s body inside.
A further search within a radius of 10 km around the location of the car revealed the husband’s body,” said Al-Thaqil.
The car had overturned. They had run out of water and died of dehydration under the scorching sun.
The bodies were airlifted to the Ahsa airport in the Eastern Province as requested by their relatives, SPA reported.
The Empty Quarter, known in Arabic as Rub Al-Khali, has a fascinating variety of sand dune formations, but strikes fear into the hearts of even modern-day adventurers. About 1,000 km long and 500 km wide, it is one of the world's largest deserts. There is less than two inches of rain each year, but it has plenty of oil reserves.
The first documented crossing of the Rub Al-Khali was by Bertram Thomas, an English civil servant in 1930-31. In 1932 Thomas published his popular book, Arabia Felix, describing the desert’s animals and geology as well as its human inhabitants.
A year after Thomas’ expedition, Abdullah Philby made it from north to south and back, then west, in two true crossings.
