1 dead, 15 injured in Al-Kharj road accident

A weekend shopping trip of expatriate nurses in Al Kharj turned into a tragedy, with one killed and 15 injured in a road accident.
Nurses from India and the Philippines, who are working at the Prince Salman Hospital and other health centers in Zalm near Al Kharj, were going to do their weekly shopping on Thursday evening at the Al Kharj main market when the company bus carrying them was hit by a speeding vehicle from the back side, causing it to crash into a road divider and crossed into the opposite lane of the highway.
Emma Eleterio from the Philippines, who was critically injured in the accident, died on the same day at King Khaled Hospital in Al Kharj where she was admitted. A resident of General Santos City in the southern Philippines, Emma had worked in Saudi Arabia for the past nine years. Her body is being kept at a mortuary of King Khalid Hospital.
Jennifer Tambag, a Filipino nurse who was injured but later discharged from the hospital after treatment, told Arab News on Monday over the phone that their bus was forced into a street divider with palm trees and that it continued to cross into the opposite direction, then stopped at an empty area on the road side.
She identified her compatriots who were injured as Alicia Dave, Liliosa Balidiosa, Mae Mendrez and Bernadeth Chavez. Tambag said that no one from the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh had visited them so far.
Indian nurse Nansamma Verghe, whose leg was fractured in the accident, told Arab News that pieces of broken glass from the bus window and sand had crippled their movement until rescue teams arrived at the scene. Another Indian nurse, Rajamol, said that she is still in shock.
Of the nine Indian nurses in the bus, Supriya was the most critically injured. She had to undergo surgery for a fracture in her right leg. Annam John also suffered a fracture while Rajmol Joseph, Biksy Verghese and Jessy Joseph were severely injured. One passenger, Ambali Bindu Shibi, sustained minor injuries.
Saudi national Mohammed Faisal Qaitani, whose vehicle crashed into the bus, was arrested and later released on bail.
Police said the bus driver, Salman, was also a Saudi.
The injured Indian and Philippine nurses said that they were touched by the gesture of Salman’s wife's visit and her offering of flowers and prayers to them.
Indian social workers in Al Kharj, John Rafael, Saleem and Naseer, along with NORKA representative Shihab Kottukad, visited those injured at the hospital, while Philippine Embassy officials were scheduled to visit yesterday.