SCORES of worshippers had a lucky escape as a mosque ceiling collapsed partially about an hour before the evening prayer.
The Jaffari Waqf (Endowments) Directorate was yesterday carrying out maintenance work at the Imam Al Hadi mosque in Al Kharjiyah, Sitra following the incident on Sunday.
Residents, including Capital Trustees Board member Mohammed Tawfeeq, told the GDN that the roof was already damaged and collapsed due to the heavy rains.
Bahrain has been experiencing severe rains since Saturday, with heavy floods in several parts of the country causing damage to public property.
“The gypsum roof was partially damaged, and unfortunately, the incident was caused by the continued rains,” explained Mr Tawfeeq.
“According to residents, it was around 4pm, nearly an hour before the maghrib (evening) prayer, and thankfully, no worshippers were inside or nearby.
“I went there the same day with officials from the directorate; the repair work is in progress.”
A directorate representative confirmed that its maintenance team was on the job.
“It rained heavily, and such incidents happen every year during this season,” he added.
“Fortunately, no injuries were reported.
“We have a team ready to do the repairs, and there have been no major incidents reported this year.”
A resident, on the other hand, said “nobody bothered” despite the roof damage being reported two years ago.
“The waterproofing had a complaint that was discovered after the heavy rains in 2019, and it was reported to the authorities, but nobody bothered,” said the elderly man.
“It’s not a very old mosque; it was built in 2004 and we began worshipping there in 2006, so it’s fairly new, and it should have been fixed sooner.”
The man stated that he rushed to the scene as soon as the caretaker notified of the incident.
“He (the caretaker) had come to prepare the place for the maghrib prayer and discovered the mess. Usually, around 30 to 50 people gather, but due to the rain, only three to four people came that day.”
Meanwhile, on Sunday evening, the Sitra Health Centre was also flooded by rainwater.
Residents told the GDN that it clearly indicated the need for maintenance, particularly given that it serves a large portion of Sitra residents.
Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning Ministry teams continued their efforts yesterday to drain water that had collected in various parts of the country.
Priority was given to main roads, as well as those surrounding hospitals, health centres, mosques, official institutions, and within cities, villages, and neighbourhoods.
“The rain emergency team began implementing its work plan by sending 70 tanks as well as rainwater suction pumps to the sites where rainwater had collected, which covered approximately 25 areas,” said a statement.
“All vital roads in Bahrain are passable, and rainwater drainage systems are under control and performing as expected.”
Minister Essam Khalaf, along with Works Affairs Under-Secretary Ahmed Al Khayat and Municipal Affairs Under-Secretary Shaikh Mohammed bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, visited a number of sites to inspect the work of emergency teams.
Strong northwest winds are expected to continue today, with temperatures dropping to as low as 16C. The meteorological directorate also predicted rough seas, with waves ranging from three to six feet offshore.
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