[gallery size="medium" td_select_gallery_slide="slide" td_gallery_title_input="Holiday trip mired in tragedy; 10 expats killed in accident on Madinah highway" ids="154515,154516,154514"]
By Irfan Mohammed
Saudi Gazette
JEDDAH — Holiday trips for two expatriate families were marred by tragedy when they met with a horrific accident on Madinah highway Tuesday morning.
The vehicles carrying the two families collided head-on at around 11:15 a.m. near Al-Jahfa close to Rabigh, killing a total of 10 people, including children. One of the families was Pakistani and the other Sudanese.
“Nine people were killed and five others seriously injured in the accident. They were shifted to hospital,” said Abdullah Abu Zaid, spokesman for the Saudi Red Crescent Authority.
Saudi Gazette learned that one of the injured victims died in hospital later, bringing the death toll to 10. Six of the dead were from Pakistan and four from Sudan.
Abu Zaid said it was a terrible accident and the Red Crescent deployed five rescue teams led by field commander Abdul Rahman Issam Al-Din.
Civil Defense and highway patrol units also rushed to the spot to join the rescue operations.
In a separate incident, a group of people who were returning from Madinah met with an accident near Al-Jawhara stadium in Jeddah Monday evening.
The accident killed one passenger on the spot and injured seven others. The injured victims were shifted King Abdullah Medical Complex by Red Crescent ambulances.
