RIYADH/KUALA LUMPUR, 28 July 2003 — Eight people, including five Malaysian pilgrims, were killed when the minibus carrying them collided head-on with a saloon car outside the holy city of Makkah, a newspaper reported yesterday.
Nine other Malaysians were critically wounded in the accident which took place at dawn Saturday when the group was visiting Mount Arafat, just outside Makkah city, Okaz daily said.
The others killed in the accident included Saudi minibus driver Mohammed Al-Harbi, his Indonesian assistant.
The identity of the driver of the saloon car was not given by the authorities.
A 13-year-old boy was among the dead and a further eight Malaysian pilgrims were injured in the accident, the New Straits Times reported.
The pilgrims were traveling back from the holy city in a mini-bus when it collided with a car driving in the opposite direction, Malaysian Deputy Consul in Jeddah Muhammad Nasir Awang was cited as saying by the newspaper.
Awang said the group of Malaysian pilgrims had arrived in Jeddah on Wednesday and proceeded to Makkah for their pilgrimage and were scheduled to return to Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
Saudi Arabia has one of the world’s highest rates of traffic accidents, according to the Transport Ministry.
Road deaths have exceeded 35,000 over the past decade, with more than 200,000 injured.
