Get the drift: Top stuntman succumbs to fatal addiction

HORROR: A YouTube grab shows the crash that left Al-Nazeem (inset) dead.

JEDDAH: A Saudi youth, known as “King Al-Nazeem” among his friends for his daredevil stunts in cars, has reportedly lost his life while drifting on a highway.
According to messages posted on social media, the tragic incident happened early on Friday morning, when the Kingdom was celebrating the 86th National Day.
Despite the many hashtags stating the death of “King Al-Nazeem,” the news was not confirmed by any official source.
A video of the accident showed a black car drifting on the highway and young men filming the stunt before the driver losing control and crashing into some spectators, with their screams heard loudly in the background. The video did not show the driver’s face; other photos showed the car turned upside down after hitting the crash barrier.
Al-Nazeem had been sentenced to prison and lashes after causing the death of a friend seated with him in the car while he was drifting.
The authorities banned him from driving for life, the most severe punishment ever against a drifter. Also, the Ministry of Interior issued a directive to exclude drifters from pardoning of sentences.
However, according to reports, after some time Al-Nazeem appeared on the talk show, “Behind the Curtains,” which was featured from inside Al-Malaz Prison, and expressed his deepest regrets and apologies, asking for forgiveness and pardon, and addressed his mother with a letter saying he was very sorry.
Although it was not officially announced that he had received a pardon and got out of prison, many Saudis were very surprised the morning he was announced dead after he went back to the practice of drifting — after getting out of prison, said a media report said.
Tweeters said he received a pardon last Ramadan and some friends convinced him to go back to the fatal practice of drifting, others published photos of him wearing the ihram while performing Umrah after he got out of prison as proof of his repentance.
The hashtag on the drifter’s death witnessed arguments between those who said this should be a lesson for other drifters and others saying that gloating about a person after his death is impermissible.
One of the tweets said all the young men fled the scene, leaving Al-Nazeem without trying to rescue him. He also published a photo of the body after it was removed from the car, with the face covered.