A volleyball game between a Saudi student based in the U.S. and his friends ended up in him tragically drowning while fetching a ball last week.
Identified as Sharaf Al-Hashim, the scholarship student who was studying in Cleveland, Ohio, went missing after chasing the ball that went into a lake near the soccer ground where he was playing with peers. After getting into the water, the 24-year-old struggled to get back to the pier. His friends then jumped into the water in a bid to save him but it was too late as he had already gone under.
Emergency services immediately arrived at the scene after being called in to help. It took between five to 10 minutes for trained divers to find Al-Hashim's lifeless body. A coroner's report confirmed that he died as a result of drowning.
Al-Hashim, who hails from Al-Qateef governorate in the kingdom's Eastern Province, was a final year undergraduate student majoring in chemical engineering at Cleveland State University.
In statements to local media, the deceased's brother, Alawi Al-Hashim, confirmed the news of his death. His family explained that the young man was planning his wedding for when after he graduates before his life was tragically cut short.
The Saudi Embassy in the U.S. has been in contact with the late student's family and is helping them complete all procedures needed to repatriate his body back home.
Not the first similar incident involving Saudis abroad this year
Two similar tragic events took place in the U.S. and Uganda this year.
Earlier this summer, a Saudi man studying in the U.S. was announced dead days after he went missing while touring the Niagara Falls in New York City. Later identified as Qasem Al Adawi, the man disappeared after leaving his wife and kids behind in the family's car to get a few photographs in the area. He reportedly slipped and fell in the U.S. side of the fall's waters, but his body was retrieved from the Canadian side.
In April, the body of Saudi businessman Mothker Al Subaie - who vanished while on a vacation in Uganda - was found near the country's River Nile (aka the White Nile). The tourist died of drowning after slipping into the river while trying to click a selfie.