Saudi Arabia Bus Crash Leaves 19 Egyptian Pilgrims Dead
KABUL: (MEP) A passenger bus has overturned on a road that linked Saudi Arabia’s holy cities Makkah and Madina, killing at least Nineteen Egyptian pilgrims on Saturday and wounded some 22 others.
The bus driver fell asleep and lost control of the vehicle, Xinhua reported.
An official with the Egyptian foreign ministry, Hisham al-Naqeeb, told the MENA news agency that the bus was carrying 44 Egyptians.
He said the bodies of the dead were transferred to different hospitals in the city of Madina.
Saudi Red Crescent spokesman Khaled Ben Messaed al-Sihli said all the bus passengers have the same nationality of an Arab country except the driver who is Asian.
The pilgrims were performing Umrah, a minor Hajj pilgrimage, which can be done at any time of the year.
Deaths of pilgrims in accidents occur frequently in Saudi Arabia which has high traffic fatalities, mainly because of over speeding and reckless driving.
The accident came a day after at least 14 Palestinian pilgrims en route to Mecca died in a bus crash in southern Jordan near the Saudi border.
