A Sri Lankan with three other expatriates working in the
Eastern Province died at the site.
Among the dead were Lucent Christoper De Silva, 49, Sri
Lankan, who was working for Holiday Inn Hotel in Alkhobar in the Eastern
province as its food and beverage manager for the past 18 months.
The others who died in the accident were Shariful Islam,
chief housekeeper of the hotel (Bangladeshi); its Executive Chef Ahmed Ibrahim
Al Mahtadi (Jordanian); and its Sous Chef Osam Kamil Sukoor (Jordanian).
According to Vinod C. Menon, manager training and
development at the hotel, the tragedy occurred 150 km from Riyadh on the
highway to Dammam. Another car coming from the opposite direction had run off
its lane following a tire blowout resulting in a head-on collision.
Two people traveling in the other car — a Pakistani and a
Yemeni — also died in the accident. All six bodies are currently at a morgue in
King Fahd Hospital in Al-Ahsa, some 200 km from the Saudi capital.
