DHAHRAN, 14 November 2007 — Police confirmed the death of three people at the scene of a major vehicular crash in heavy fog on the Dhahran-Abqaiq Highway on Monday morning.
According to an official statement released by the Dhahran traffic police, the crash left 224 vehicles damaged and closed the Dhahran-Abqaiq highway for a distance of at least three kilometers from the Al-Turki petrol station in Dhahran to the Bin Quraya area.
In addition to the three dead — one Saudi, one Egyptian and one Indian national — 27 critically injured people were taken to Al-Salama Hospital, King Fahd University Hospital, Dammam Central Hospital, King Fahd Military Medical Complex and the Saudi Aramco Medical Center.
The accident was triggered at about 6 a.m. when numerous workers were traveling on the highway to reach industrial complexes where work begins at 7 a.m. The police spokesman remarked that the scene was “sorted out” by 8 a.m. He said the accident was caused by high speed in low visibility. Foggy weather began last week in the Eastern Province and is expected to continue for the remainder of the month.
Yesterday, horrific photographs of the tragedy were distributed by e-mail, putting the death toll at numbers from seven to 15. One vehicle was shown to have been completely engulfed by fire. Insurance companies reported that their offices were overwhelmed with repair requests.
Massive vehicular crashes in fog in the Eastern Province occur annually, with tens of cars involved in such accidents. Monday’s crash was only unusual due to the extreme number of vehicles involved.
Although the region experiences foggy conditions both in the autumn and spring which often leads to airline flight delays, employers refuse to adjust the early morning starting hours at industrial sites and penalize workers who arrive late, even in fog.
