JEDDAH, 10 December 2006 — Four foreign pilgrims were killed and 60 others injured, some them critically, in two separate accidents on the Makkah-Madinah Expressway yesterday, according to diplomats and hospital sources.
A coach carrying about 50 pilgrims, more than 40 of whom British citizens, crashed 90 kilometers north of Jeddah yesterday morning. Two Britons were among three killed and 34 were injured, some critically. The nationality of the third person who died is as yet unknown.
In a separate accident on the same highway early yesterday, one man was killed and 26 others injured, one of them critically, when a bus carrying 35 Indian pilgrims from Jammu & Kashmir overturned about 100 km from Makkah. The bus was on its way to Makkah from Madinah when the accident took place about 5 a.m. near Usfan. The injured pilgrims — 14 men and 12 women — are in the Al-Hira and Al-Zaher hospitals in Makkah. Pilgrims with minor injuries were treated and taken back to their accommodation in Makkah.
A Foreign Office spokesman said in London that there were “several” Britons among the injured. Six of the injured were released after treatment; the remaining 28 remain in hospital. Three of them have serious injuries. The coach is believed to have been traveling from Jeddah to Madinah for a visit to the Prophet’s Mosque prior to pilgrimage.
The injured were ferried in teams of ambulances to hospital in Rabigh where they were treated in the emergency rooms.
“The cause of the accident is unclear as yet,” said Barrie Peach, the British Embassy press officer. “Right now our priority is to render what on the spot assistance we can and communicate the position to relatives and families of the victims in the UK.”
The accident occurred at a notorious black spot on a winding section of the Jeddah-Madinah Road near a point allowing U turns.
British Consul General Gerard Russell and a team of officials departed from Jeddah immediately upon learning of the tragedy to render such consular assistance as was possible. They were reinforced by a team from Riyadh dispatched later in the day. “The Rabigh General Hospital has been tremendous in its response to the incident,” said Russell from the emergency room in the hospital where he was organizing the consular response team last night. “They have handled the situation extremely well and doubtless helped minimize the extent of the injuries from the accident.”
The consulate will be providing Arabic and Urdu speakers to stay with the injured until the situation settles and arrangements for continuation of Haj or repatriation can be arranged.
In the Usfan accident, the dead man was identified as Abdullah Shaikh, aged 58. The critically injured man, Ghulam Mohammed, was admitted to the ICU of Al-Hira Hospital. He was operated on for internal injuries, according to Sohel Ajaz Khan, consul (Haj) at the Consulate General of India.
Pilgrims admitted to Al-Zaher Hospital were: Gulam Fatima, Haneef Shaikh, Naseem Begum, Abdul Gaffar, Gulam Mohiuddin, Rashida Begum, Aziz Wani, Mohammed Abdullah Wani, Amina Begum, Abdul Lateef, Gulam Mohammed Naik, Habibullah Bhat, Zaina Begum, Kamaluddin and Sajida Begum.
Pilgrims admitted to Al-Hira Hospital were Mohammed Abdullah Reshi, Mohammad Raboo, Habibullah, Gul Mohd Ganai, Zarina Akhter, Parveen Iqbal, Zara Begum, Badsha Begum, Arifa Begum, Zaina Begum and Gulam Mohammed.
Eight to 10 of the hospitalized pilgrims are expected to be discharged by evening, according to the consul who visited both hospitals. By mid-day yesterday, 650,000 pilgrims had arrived from India. Of that number, 39,000 are in Makkah and the remainder in Madinah.
The British Consulate in Jeddah said recently that teams of UK Muslim officials were to be sent to assist UK pilgrims during Haj. These include doctors and Arabic-speaking Foreign Office officials who have been trained specifically to deal with any unexpected problems that arise during the pilgrims’ visit to the Kingdom.
