RIYADH: Sixteen percent of children at the Insan Charity Association in Riyadh have been orphaned by traffic accidents, according to an official at the organization.

The situation is similar at other charities, Faisal Al-Mighleith, deputy director of the organization, was quoted as saying by a local publication on Tuesday.

Al-Mighleith made the remarks during a talk, in cooperation with the local traffic department, about people with disabilities. He said the Kingdom’s traffic accidents were a “catastrophic” situation leading to the death of one person every 40 minutes and 32 becoming disabled.

He said Insan has more than 17 branches in Riyadh and takes care of 40,000 orphans and 10,000 widows, with 400 employees. He said 1,619 families lost their providers because of traffic accidents. This number increased to 25 percent at the Rifaq charitable society for the welfare of orphans, he said.

He said children suffer severely when they lose their parents, which includes psychological problems. He said the Kingdom lost more than 86,000 people because of traffic accidents over the past two decades, which was like being involved in a war.

He said Insan offers 55 services for its beneficiaries, to maintain the dignity of widows and orphans, and hoped the community would work to reduce traffic accidents in the country.