A baby who survived a crash which killed his entire family was sent to a morgue in a body bag in the belief he was dead.
The miracle baby Mohammed Eisa Hayat was shielded by his granddad as their fast-moving taxi hit a bridge on a pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
Five relatives died, including his heavily-pregnant mum, along with the taxi driver.
If this ordeal wasn’t enough for Mohammed he was then zipped into a body bag and transported to a morgue, it had been revealed.As he was being put into storage his body began moving and stunned officials rushed him by ambulance to hospital.
The potentially catastrophic mistake was revealed for the first time today as grieving relatives spoke of the accident.
A campaign has been launched for lobbying for better regulation of taxis in Saudi Arabia after the tragic events of last February.
The deadly crash happened as the family, from Newport, south Wales, were in the country for Umrah, the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca.
Officials on the scene in Saudi Arabia were so certain nobody had survived Eisa was taken to the morgue with his family and the driver.
The toddler, who has since turned two, is now back in Wales and being looked after by members of his parents’ extended family.
“They thought ’oh, the little baby was dead, no-one could’ve survived that.’ So they took him, zipped him up in the bag and took him to the morgue,” Shaukat’s brother, Shazada Hayat, told Wales On Sunday.
“He ended up in the mortuary. As they were putting him in [to storage], he moved around.
“They grabbed him, put him in an ambulance and rushed him to the Medina Children’s Care Hospital.”
He went on to speak of his family’s efforts to get the law changed in Saudi Arabia to ensure only licensed and insured taxi drivers can operate.
“By us lobbying or asking for these changes, we might not be able to save hundreds and hundreds of lives, but if we could save one life, then it’s a step in the right direction,” he said.
The family victims were seven-months pregnant mum Bilques, 30, the lad’s dad Mohammed Isshaq Hayat, 33, grandadShaukat Ali Hayat, 56, gran Abida, 47, and aunt Saira, 29.
