Death and injury recently struck the Aramco family in the form of a devastating fire at the Radium Compound in Al Khobar. We lack words sufficient to express the enormity of the loss to those families whose loved ones were taken and what it means to the rest of us. Rather, we choose to share the timeless thoughts of seventeenth century British poet John Donne from his "Meditation 17" written almost 400 years ago:
No man is an island, Entire of itself, Every man is a piece of the continent, A part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less. As well as if a promontory were. As well as if a manor of thy friend's Or of thine own were: Any man's death diminishes me, Because I am involved in mankind, And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee.
We are all a part of the Aramco family. Any loss of a family member from any country, of any age, is a loss to all of us, wherever they may have been or we may be. Our hearts go out to the immediate families of those who lost their lives in Al-Khobar. Know that all of you are a part of an extended family, that you have Aramcon brothers and sisters around the world who grieve with you and wish God’s eternal blessings on the departed.
