JAKARTA, March 21 (Bernama) -- Six Indonesian Umrah pilgrims were killed, and 14 others injured in a bus accident on the Madinah-Mecca road in Saudi Arabia, Indonesia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
The ministry’s citizen protection director, Judha Nugraha, stated that the incident occurred on Thursday at 1.30 pm local time, or 5.30 pm western Indonesian time, in Wadi Qudeid, about 150 km from Jeddah.
“According to preliminary reports, the bus was involved in a collision, overturned, and caught fire,” he noted in a statement.
He explained that Indonesia’s Consulate General in Jeddah was notified of the crash and immediately dispatched a team from the Indonesian Citizen Protection Unit to the scene.
Officials have been coordinating with Saudi authorities, hospitals, the tour operator, the Ministry of Hajj, Muassasah, and the bus company to assess the situation and provide assistance.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is working with the Ministry of Religious Affairs and the Umrah agency to gather complete information on the Indonesian pilgrims involved and their families back home,” Judha said.
The injured victims have been taken to hospitals in Saudi Arabia for treatment, and the families of those affected have been notified.
“The Indonesian government has expressed its deepest condolences to the families of the six victims and assured continued support for those receiving medical care,” he said.
-- BERNAMA
BERNAMA provides up-to-date authentic and comprehensive news and information which are disseminated via BERNAMA Wires; www.bernama.com; BERNAMA TV on Astro 502, unifi TV 631 and MYTV 121 channels and BERNAMA Radio on FM93.9 (Klang Valley), FM107.5 (Johor Bahru), FM107.9 (Kota Kinabalu) and FM100.9 (Kuching) frequencies.
Follow us on social media :
Facebook : @bernamaofficial, @bernamatv, @bernamaradio
Twitter : @bernama.com, @BernamaTV, @bernamaradio
Instagram : @bernamaofficial, @bernamatvofficial, @bernamaradioofficial
TikTok : @bernamaofficial
