Computer glitch leads to causeway jam

Long lines of cars were queuing up on the 25-km King Fahd Causeway linking Saudi Arabia with Bahrain, due to a malfunction at the passport system on Wednesday.
Many cars resorted to taking a U-turn after waiting for more than three hours on the bridge. Some found themselves stuck in the traffic jam.
“If I had not made a U-turn, I would have had to stay until midnight,” said one commuter.
“There are no emergency gates along the causeway road. There should be gates or gaps that cars can return through if needed,” said another commuter.
The system shut down from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
King Fahd International Airport was also affected by the system failure and some international flights were delayed for hours.
Speaking to Arab News, Lt Col. Muala Al-Otaibi said that an updating of the computer system of the passport control led to the glitch.
“Some of the terminals at some borders had stopped for a while and then continued working,” he said, adding that “the system returned to a normal and it is working well in all EP borders now.”