Thirty-five foreigners were killed and four others were injured when a bus collided with another heavy vehicle near Madina, Saudi state media said Thursday.
The accident took place on Wednesday on the Hijra road, 170 km from Madina, when a private bus carrying 39 passengers collided with a loader, a Madina police spokesman said, according to the official. Saudi press agency.
Those who traveled on the bus were expatriates in the Kingdom and of Asian and Arab nationalities, they reported Arab news.
The injured were taken to Al-Hamna Hospital, SPA he added, and the authorities have launched an investigation.
The accident occurs after four British pilgrims died and another 12 were injured in Saudi Arabia when their bus collided with a fuel tanker in April 2018. They were heading to Mecca.
In January 2017, six Britons, including a two-month-old baby, were killed in a minibus on their way to Madina after making a pilgrimage to Mecca.
As part of efforts to diversify its oil-dependent economy, the ultraconservative kingdom wants to foster a religious tourism sector throughout the year that includes millions of pilgrims.
Until last month, the country only granted visas to Muslim pilgrims, foreign workers and recently to spectators at sporting or cultural events, but tourists are now allowed to visit as part of the campaign to prepare the largest Arab economy for an era after the Petroleum. .
Source: https://www.dawn.com/news/1511355/35-expat-pilgrims-dead-in-saudi-bus-crash-near-madina