JEDDAH, 20 October 2003 — A mother and daughter died and six others were critically injured in an accident at the intersection of the coastal highway and the road leading to the Shuaiba desalination plant. The accident involved two vehicles, a Toyota Camry carrying three women and three men and a minibus.
The absence of traffic signs or speed bumps at the intersection meant that both cars went through the intersection at high speed, according to Al-Madinah newspaper.
Eyewitness Muhammad Ajyad told the paper passers-by had done what they could. “We called for an ambulance the moment we heard of the accident but it took them half an hour to get here. One woman died before they arrived,” he said.
Ibrahim Akbar, an employee at the nearby desalination plant, said: “Accidents happen here about twice a week. Drivers on the road do not notice the intersection because there are no signs. Every week we have to perform first aid and try to save injured people before the ambulance arrives.
“In this case, because we were afraid of the cars going up in flames, we took the passengers out of the cars. About half an hour after we called, one ambulance arrived and took two of the injured people. After waiting a while, we asked the desalination plant ambulance to take the others to the hospital.”
The director of the Red Crescent Society in the Makkah region, Khalid Al-Hibshi, said: “We received a call at 9:49 a.m. with no details. An ambulance was sent and arrived at 10:05 a.m. and took two patients to a hospital. We then received information that there were more injured and we immediately sent three teams to the scene, with the first one arriving at 11 a.m. We moved five patients, and two were transported by the desalination plant’s ambulance.”
