25 Killed, 34 Hurt in a Spate of Road Accidents

JEDDAH, 22 November 2004 — At least 25 people were killed and 34 others injured in road accidents across the country over the past three days, press reports said.

The Eastern Province had the highest number of fatalities with 13 people killed and four others injured in accidents in various parts of the region.

Seven people perished when their GMC van overturned on the Dammam-Alkhobar Road on Friday. Three members of a family, including a man and his wife, died when a trailer truck hit their car on Hufouf-Riyadh Road.

In the southern Baha region, five people were killed and two others injured when two cars collided head-on near Mandaq town. Witnesses blamed poor visibility for the accident.

All five passengers in a Chevrolet Lumina died in an accident near Wadi Dawasser on their way from Najran. The dead included two women. Traffic police blamed speeding and a burst tire for the accident.

On the International Road near Amlaj, two Saudis died and eight others, including a Greek and four Britons, were injured in an appalling car crash. The injured have been taken to the Royal Commission Hospital in Yanbu. Okaz identified the dead Saudis as Hassaan Matami, 40, and Ali Muntashry, 27.

In yet another accident, an Indian worker, Abdul Shukoor, was knocked off the road by a speeding car. A Saudi passer-by spotted the Indian lying in a pool of blood and took him to hospital.

In Laith, an elderly man, who wrote his will last week, died on Saturday when a speeding car collided head-on with his car.

Nineteen people including Bahrainis and Indonesians were injured in an accident on Riyadh-Qasim Expressway on Friday while they were returning to Bahrain from Madinah. The accident occurred near Houtat Sudair when a tire of their bus burst.

Red Crescent volunteers took the injured to the general hospital in Houtat Sudair. “The condition of all the injured except one woman is stable,” Abdul Aziz Al-Mutairy, the hospital director, said.