Tue 28 March 2023:
A bus carrying pilgrims was caught in an accident in Saudi Arabia and burst into flames Monday, killing 20 people and injuring more than two dozen others. The bus was ferrying passengers to Mecca when it was in a collision on a bridge. Transporting worshippers to Mecca and Medina, the holiest cities in Islam, has been marred by safety issues.
The incident took place on Monday in the southern province of Asir, bordering Yemen. It comes during the first week of Ramadan, a busy time for the Umrah pilgrimage, and just months before millions of Muslims are expected to make the annual Hajj pilgrimage.
“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,” the state-affiliated Al Ekhbariya channel reported.
It said the victims had “different nationalities” but did not mention them or provide a breakdown.
The channel said the bus had “car trouble”, without specifying, while the private newspaper Okaz said the accident resulted from an issue with the brakes. The vehicle “then collided with a bridge, overturned and caught fire”.
Footage broadcast on Al Ekhbariya showed a reporter standing in front of what appeared to be the burned-out shell of the bus.
Transporting worshippers around Saudi Arabia’s holy sites is a perilous task, particularly during the Hajj, when roads can be chaotic with buses creating interminable traffic jams.
In 2016, a bus overturned on a highway connecting Medina and Mecca, killing 19 people and injuring 22 others.
In April 2018, four British pilgrims were killed and 12 others were injured when their bus collided with a fuel tanker in Saudi Arabia.
When a bus collided with another heavy vehicle near Medina in October 2019, 35 foreigners were killed and four others were injured.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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