At least 45 Indian Muslims have been killed as a bus carrying them between pilgrimage sites in Saudi Arabia crashed, Indian authorities say. The bus collided with a diesel tanker on a highway as it travelled from the holy city of Mecca to Medina on Monday, according to Indian media reports.
“The tragic bus accident involving Indian pilgrims in Saudi Arabia is deeply distressing,” VC Sajjanar, police commissioner for the city of Hyderabad, where many of the Indian citizens were reported to have come from, told reporters. “According to preliminary information, 46 people were travelling in the bus at the time of the incident, and heartbreakingly, only one person survived.” Most of the victims were from two families, he added.
Diplomats and politicians expressed their condolences over the “tragic” incident. Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on social media that he was “deeply saddened”, that his “thoughts are with the families who have lost their loved ones”, and that he was praying “for the swift recovery of all those injured”. The Indian consulate in Jeddah said a control room has been set up to provide helplines.
