They were on their way to their school in Thimamah, 240 km south of Hail city.

A Civil Defense spokesman said its units, the Saudi Red Crescent and police rushed to the scene of the accident and took the injured to the nearest hospital.

Women teachers dying in traffic accidents while traveling long distances to their schools or homes has been an increasing occurrence, with citizens and officials calling for action to stop these tragedies happening.

Commenting on the issue, supervisor of the Students' Transport Project in Makkah, Marwan bin Hussain Al-Sulaiman, told Arab News that women teachers are not included in the project and they mostly rely on private transport.

He said a study is being considered at the moment to include them in the project.

"However, the main hurdle is that women teachers usually move between cities and towns, while the project only provides transport facilities to students commuting within the same city," he said.

Many traffic accidents involving women teachers have happened since schools reopened on Sept. 26 following the summer vacation.

In an accident that took place on the second day of the school term in the Dhiba area in the north of the Kingdom, two women teachers died and three others injured.

Education sources told Arab News that road accidents are not limited to women teachers alone, but also include men teachers and students in remote areas.

They, however, conceded that traffic accidents involving women teachers and female students are more widely reported.