Dozens of Indian pilgrims killed in bus accident in Saudi Arabia, officials say

Workers take down a giant Saudi flag, that measures 49.5 meters by 33 meters (162 feet by 108 feet) for weekly maintenance, from what is believed to be the tallest flagpole in the world and one of Jiddah's landmarks, at King Abdullah Square, in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

NEW DELHI — Dozens of Indian pilgrims are feared dead after a bus was in collision with a diesel tanker on Monday near the holy city of Medina in Saudi Arabia, Indian officials said.

The bus with 46 people onboard was travelling from Mecca to Medina when the incident happened on a highway, Gaurav Uppal, a senior official of Telangana state, told The Associated Press.

“Around 45 people from Telangana are feared dead in the accident, while one person is injured,” said Uppal, who is based out of New Delhi and is involved with coordinating rescue efforts with Indian authorities in Saudi.

Relatives of the victims gathered outside the office of the Fly Zone travel agency, in Hyderabad, seeking information about their family members.

Saudi officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar and Telangana’s highest-elected official, Revanth Reddy, offered condolences to the bereaved families.

In a post on X, Jaishankar said the Indian embassy in Riyadh and the consulate in Jeddah were offering support to the relatives of the victims.

Mohammed Tehseen said seven members of his family were on the bus, of which all but one had died. The injured survivor had “called after the accident to inform us about the tragedy,” he said.

Vishwanath Channappa Sajjanar, the police chief of Telangana’s state capital, Hyderabad, said preliminary reports suggests that at least 18 of the deceased were from Hyderabad. He said most of the victims were from two families, and that the injured passenger was named as Mohammed Shoaib.

“I spoke to the Consul General of India and got the details,” Sajjanar told a press conference. “There were 46 people in the bus and one passenger survived with injuries.”

Sajjanar said the police was in contact with the travel agency through which the pilgrims had traveled to Saudi Arabia.

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Omer reported from Hyderabad, India.

Rajesh Roy And Omer Farooq, The Associated Press