RIYADH, 2 December 2002 — Nineteen Umrah pilgrims were killed and 22 injured when the bus they were traveling in smashed into a truck near Riyadh, newspapers reported yesterday.
The crash occurred late Saturday as the victims traveled from Al-Kharj, 70 km south of Riyadh, to the holy city of Makkah in the west of the Kingdom.
Ten Egyptians died in the crash along with two Jordanians and a Saudi, a Sudanese and a Syrian. The other four victims had yet to be identified. Among the injured were 15 Egyptians, two Syrians, an Eritrean and a Turkish man. They were hospitalized in Riyadh, police said.
Twelve Saudi Red Crescent teams rushed to the crash site and evacuated the injured to hospitals. Riyadh Governor Prince Salman supervised the rescue operation.
