JEDDAH, 2 December 2003 — Six people were crushed to death and six others injured when a reckless driver ran over them on Sitteen Street here on Sunday, Al-Madinah Arabic daily reported.
The accident took place while a group of seven foreigners were sitting on the sidewalk. Five of them were killed instantly while the sixth died in hospital.
Yassin Muhammad, the driver, said the accident occurred when one of the seven suddenly made to cross the street. Muhammad said he swerved to avoid the man but lost control of the vehicle, which ran all of them over.
Eyewitnesses told the paper Muhammad had been driving too fast.
Red Crescent officials told the daily four teams took part in the rescue operation. The injured were taken to Erfan Bagedo Hospital.
The driver was later moved to King Fahd Hospital. “He was discharged from the hospital late Sunday,” the paper said.
Al-Madinah identified the dead men as Yasser Muhammad Mousa, Mukhtar Muhammad Mohsen, Ali Muhammad, Ahmad Al-Hayashi, Taazi and Muhammad Al-Saeedi.
In another two fatal accidents in Jeddah on Sunday, eight people were seriously injured. In the first accident, a pileup of three cars, three passengers were severely wounded.
In another accident five people narrowly escaped death when a pickup truck smashed head-on into another car. The pickup truck was mangled, the paper said.
