Police stopped fire rescue

 Saudi Arabia's religious police stopped schoolgirls
from leaving a blazing building because they were
not wearing correct Islamic dress, according to Saudi
newspapers. In a rare criticism of the kingdom's powerful
"mutaween" police, the Saudi media has accused
them of hindering attempts to save 15 girls who
died in the fire on Monday. About 800 pupils were inside the school in the holy
city of Mecca when the tragedy occurred. According to the al-
Eqtisadiah daily, firemen
confronted police after
they tried to keep the
girls inside because they
were not wearing the headscarves and abayas
(black robes) required by
the kingdom's strict
interpretation of Islam. One witness said he saw
three policemen "beating
young girls to prevent
them from leaving the
school because they were
not wearing the abaya". The Saudi Gazette quoted witnesses as saying that
the police - known as the Commission for the
Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice - had
stopped men who tried to help the girls and warned
"it is a sinful to approach them". The father of one of the dead girls said that the
school watchman even refused to open the gates to
let the girls out. "Lives could have been saved had they not been
stopped by members of the Commission for
Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice," the
newspaper concluded. Relatives' anger Families of the victims have been incensed over the
deaths. Most of the victims were crushed in a stampede as
they tried to flee the blaze. The school was locked at the time of the fire - a
usual practice to ensure full segregation of the
sexes. The religious police are widely feared in Saudi Arabia.
They roam the streets enforcing dress codes and sex
segregation, and ensuring prayers are performed on
time. Those who refuse to obey their orders are often
beaten and sometimes put in jail.