2 killed, 10 hurt in car crash
Two people were killed and 10 were injured when two vehicles collided head-on late Friday south of Dhahran. Passengers in one of the vehicles were on their way to the historic city of Uqair.
Aramco firefighters and Red Crescent personnel rushed to the scene to transfer the dead and injured to nearby hospitals, while police sealed off the entire right lane of the highway in the aftermath of the fatal crash.
“Seven ambulance teams from the Red Crescent, two Aramco teams and five Health Ministry teams rushed to the scene of the carnage, where they eventually discovered two bodies and several casualties whose injuries ranged from serious to minor,” said Fahd Al-Ghamdi, media spokesman for the Saudi Red Crescent Authority in the Eastern Province.
Passengers with minor injuries were treated on the spot, he said.
Uqair Road has been a scene of several traffic accidents, prompting Al-Ahsa residents to create an electronic campaign on social networking sites.
Aside from speeding, fog has been the cause of many recent traffic accidents in the region.
Although the region experiences fog both in fall and spring, delay- ing flights, employers routinely refuse to delay early morning starting hours at industrial sites, penalizing workers who arrive late despite the lack of visibility and risks.
Families often drive to the area to visit the beach during vacations and weekends.
The Eastern Province registered the second highest number of car accidents last year with over 8,300 cases, followed by Makkah with more than 7,500 registered accidents, Asir with 2,500, Hail with 788, Baha with 436 and Najran with 278, according to data released by municipalities and traffic agencies.