Kingdom Tower, aka Al-Mamlaka, is used as a symbol for Riyadh, and the constructional development of the country in general. However, for the 80-year-old Sa’ad al-Otaibi, that tower was a sign for the afterlife.

“My father was not feeling well, so I decided to take him to Riyadh, in order to get him diagnosed in a private hospital,” Abdullah, the son of the old man, told the printed edition of al-Hayat. The father, who lived his whole life in a desert 450km from Riyadh, and knows nothing about modern life except for the radio, was asleep, and when he woke up, they were near the tower. He freaked out. He thought he was dead, and what he was seeing is a part of the afterlife.

Abdullah tried to tell his father that the world has changed, but all his attempts to convince his father have failed. He had to take him back to the desert just to make him believe that he is still alive (!!).