Five arrested in Saudi for breaking into Jeddah university to inspect corpses

The men were seen in a video posted online commenting on corpses in the anatomy department

A generic photo of a morgue after five Saudi residents broke into the university anatomy department and filmed cadavers used for scientific purposes. Getty Images

Five men were arrested in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday for breaking into King Abdulaziz University on New Year’s Eve, filming cadavers in the biology department and allegedly “dancing” with them.

The video, posted to the Snapchat account of one of the perpetrators, went viral on Wednesday and sparked public outcry.

The video shows four Saudi men walking through King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah and commenting on cadavers the biology department uses for research. The video shows several gruesome shots of the bodies.

“Don’t film, we might get in trouble,” one of the men told the man filming as they left the room of an uncovered cadaver laid on an operating table.

Another image shows a body bag and a caption presumabley written by one of the perpetrators saying “Happy New Year from the dead’s refrigerator”.

All four Saudi men and the man who shot the film, specified as being of “Arab origin,” were arrested on Wednesday and are being questioned over their incident.

Makkah district police said they have arrested the suspects “who entered the anatomy department, photographed bodies and posted to social media."

"They are being referred to the public prosecutor to complete the necessary measures against them,” Makkah Region’s official twitter account said.

The spokesperson for King Abdulaziz University, Dr Share Al Bakmi, said the institution has formed a special committee to look into the disturbance.

According to King Abdulaziz University, the man filming the video was contracted by the institution to maintain the department of biology.

He allegedly told his four Saudi friends he could get them in and show them bodies that the university imports from overseas for scientific purposes.

The three-minute video shows the group making crude comments about the bodies while they laugh and stroll the university halls during New Year’s eve.

Okaz, a local Saudi newspaper, claimed the four were found “dancing” with the bodies although the video fail to show that.

The penalty, according to a lawyer cited by the paper, is up to one year in prison and up to 500,000 Saudi riyals (Dh496,000)