ABHA: Two expatriates died and 37 passengers were injured when a Saudi Arabian Public Transport Company (SAPTCO) bus overturned yesterday in the accident-prone Akabat Wadi Dela area located between Asir and Jizan provinces.
Col. Abdul Rahman Al-Shahri, spokesman for the Traffic Department in Asir province, identified the dead as an Indian and an Indonesian. Their bodies have been transferred to the Asir Central Hospital.
He said the bus, which was driven by an Egyptian, hit a car carrying a family of four. The driver told police that he was driving at 60 km per hour. The bus was going from Khamis Mushayt to Jizan.
Two Civil Defense teams took part in the rescue operation, said Maj. Ahmed Awad, deputy spokesman of the department. The injured also included three women.
As many as 29 passengers have died and 45 injured in road accidents in Wadi Dela this year alone.
Last year, three people died and five were injured, while 27 died and 13 were injured in 2006 in accidents caused by torrential rains.
Hadi Al-Yami, a member of the Human Rights Commission, said his organization would follow up on yesterday’s accident in the interests of passenger safety. “We’ll also conduct a study on the reasons for the recurrence of accidents in this area,” Al-Yami said.
Akabat Wadi Dela, a crucial 44-km stretch of road, is the main thoroughfare in the mountainous southern region of Saudi Arabia. It is also the main link between the Kingdom and Yemen.
