The bus the pilgrims were traveling in crashed near an under-construction railway bridge on the highway.

Capt. Abdul Hakeem Al-Joufi, director of air evacuation, said his unit received a SOS call Friday morning and "we immediately responded to the request".

“Three helicopters took off to respond to the accident and to transfer the injured to hospital. One pilgrim was airlifted to King Fahd Hospital in Madinah, while the other two were treated on the spot,” he said.

He said the air ambulances reached the accident location within 15 minutes despite the distance.

Al-Joufi confirmed that air ambulance helicopters in Riyadh and Jeddah were stationed in Madinah and Makkah to cover areas that did not have specialized ambulances.

“Air ambulance is now implementing the third phase of the Haj plan, where we accompany pilgrims who are moving around Makkah and Madinah on a 24-hour basis,” he said.

He said the air ambulances were on high alert for Haj, during which they airlifted 17 cases.