A bus crash in Saudi Arabia claimed at least 20 lives on Monday. [Picture: @AlArabiya_KSA]
At least 20 people died when a bus carrying pilgrims overturned and caught ablaze some 500 km south of Makkah, near the Saudi-Yemen border.
The incident occurred on Monday in the province of Asir. It is the first such tragedy since the Kingdom resumed the umrah pilgrimage after the Covid-19 pandemic.
“According to preliminary information we have now received, the number of deaths in this accident reached 20, and the total number of injuries was approximately 29,” reported Al Ekhbariya channel.
Details of the accident are murky at this stage, with the state-affiliated channel vaguely reporting the bus experienced “car trouble”. Meanwhile, independent newspaper Okaz reported that there was an issue with the brakes before the vehicle collided with the bridge, overturned and caught fire.
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Identifying victims of the bus crash
Speaking in an interview with Inayet Wadee on Salaamedia from Karachi, Haramain Sharifain producer Mohammad Jibran Khan stated it was possible people of several nationalities were killed as Saudi Arabia was home to many expatriates.
However, he said, authorities were in the process of contacting families and would soon undertake DNA testing to identify the victims.
“We do not know yet exactly which nationals have died in this tragedy. We are expecting a statement from the Civil Defence later today. We do know that unfortunately the bodies are unrecognisable and families are being contacted so that DNA tests would be conducted to identify victims [sic].”
He also said this was the first such incident in several years after a brief hiatus in pilgrimages due to the pandemic.
“In the last few years, we didn’t hear about these tragedies because of the Covid-19 pandemic and [few] trips were being conducted to Makkah. Before that, the last tragedy involving a bus accident was in 2018 when around 30 people died travelling from Tabuk to Makkah.”
Inayet Wadee and Mohammad Jibran Khan also discussed recently imposed restrictions and regulations for those undertaking a visit to the sacred cities of Makkah and Medina. Watch the full discussion here.
