35 Pilgrims killed, four injured in Bus crush near Medina

  Thursday, 17 October 2019

source: abna

Thirty-five people have been killed and four injured after a passenger bus collided with a truck in the Saudi province of Medina, a police spokesman said.
AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Thirty-five people have been killed and four injured after a passenger bus collided with a truck in the Saudi province of Medina, a police spokesman said.
The "private chartered bus", carrying 39 pilgrims from Asian and Arab countries, collided with a "heavy vehicle" in the town of al-Akhal on Wednesday, the spokesman was quoted by official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) as saying.
The agency said the crash happened around 7pm (16:00 GMT) on the road linking Mecca to the city of Medina.
The injured have been transferred to Al-Hamna Hospital, SPA added, and authorities have launched an investigation.
The accident comes after four British pilgrims were killed and 12 others injured in Saudi Arabia when their bus collided with a fuel tanker in April 2018.
In January 2017, six Britons, including a two-month-old baby, were killed in a minibus on their way to Medina after making a pilgrimage to Mecca.
In September 2015, a stampede killed up to 2,300 worshippers - including hundreds of Iranians - in the worst disaster ever to strike the Hajj annual pilgrimage.
Earlier that month, 100 people were killed when a construction crane toppled into a courtyard of Mecca's Grand Mosque.