The medical helicopter that belonged to the Saudi armed forces was en route to Hawtah Bani Tamim, 240 km from the capital to pick up a patient.

The dead were identified as pilot Capt. Khaled Al-Dakhil and First Lt. Mandeel Al-Subaihi, both Saudis, Egyptian doctor Amjad Al-Iraqi and Filipino nurse Rosella, whose full name was not disclosed. The cause of the accident is unknown.

Medical choppers are used in the Kingdom to ferry patients from one hospital to another. Patients are brought to the urban hospitals by these aircraft when the medical officers feel that the facilities and medical apparatus are not adequate to treat patients in rural hospitals.