More than 30 pilgrims lose their lives in Saudi bus crash
Thirty-five foreigners were killed and four others injured when a bus collided with another heavy vehicle near the Muslim holy city of Madinah, Saudi state media reported on Thursday.
The accident on Wednesday involved a collision between “a private chartered bus... with a heavy vehicle” near the western Saudi city, a spokesman for Madinah Police said.
Those involved were Arab and Asian pilgrims, according to the Saudi Press Agency, which ran pictures of the bus engulfed in flames with its windows blown out.
The injured were taken to Al Hamna Hospital and the authorities launched an investigation.
Wednesday’s 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 last year 8. They were on their way to the holy city of Makkah.
In January 2017, six Britons, including a two-month-old baby, were killed in a minibus on their way to Madinah after making a pilgrimage to Makkah.
As part of efforts to diversify its oil-dependent economy, the kingdom wants to foster a year-round tourism sector that includes millions of pilgrims.
Up until last month, the country only issued visas to Muslim pilgrims, foreign workers and recently to spectators at cultural events, but tourists are now allowed to visit the country as part of the drive to prepare Saudi Arabia for a post-oil era. In September 2015, a stampede killed 2,300 worshippers – including hundreds of Iranians – in the worst disaster to strike the annual Hajj pilgrimage.
Earlier that month, 100 people were killed when a construction crane toppled into a courtyard of Makkah’s Grand Mosque.