Director of air operations for Air Ambulance Capt. Abdul Hakeem Al-Joufi said they received a report of the accident at 9 p.m.

Three helicopters in Arafat took off to respond to the accident and to transfer the injured to hospital. The three helicopters transported the injured to Al-Noor Hospital in Makkah and King Abdul Aziz Hospital in Jeddah.

Al-Joufi said this was the first time three units responded to a single accident at nighttime. He said the air ambulances reached the accident location in 18 minutes despite the long distance.

Al-Joufi added 20 minutes after responding to the accident, there was another report of a road accident on the Makkah-Madinah highway that resulted in five injuries. A fourth helicopter responded to the accident. Two cases were transferred to Al-Noor Hospital in Makkah.

Al-Joufi said a plan would be implemented after Haj where two helicopters will be stationed in Al-Shumaisi center to respond to any accident between Jeddah and Makkah.

One helicopter will be stationed at Al-Laith in the southern highway, one in Jeddah and a fifth one in Madinah. He said the air ambulances were on high alert and on call 24 hours a day during Haj.

Al-Joufi said they would continue to be on alert until all pilgrims leave for home.