JEDDAH: The Traffic Department in Riyadh has denied reports in social media that a car belonging to the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Haia) caused a traffic accident while chasing another vehicle on Thursday morning near Exit 24.

In a press statement on Saturday, the department’s spokesman, Brig. Gen. Ali Al-Rasheedi, confirmed that the accident occurred around 3 a.m. Thursday morning. The vehicles involved were a 2015 Ford Taurus and a 2012 Ford Expedition which belonged to the Haia. The crash resulted in the first car flipping over. Both vehicles sustained damage but there were no injuries.

Investigations revealed the driver of the first vehicle was at fault. According to Al-Rasheedi, the accident did not occur as a result of a car chase. “There is no truth to this; the crash was accidental and did not result in any injuries,” he said.

Mohammed Al-Sabr, a spokesman for the Haia in Riyadh, also said the crash was an accident and denied that there was a car chase leading up to the accident.

He said the Traffic Department’s report confirmed the driver of the other vehicle, a citizen, was 100 percent responsible for the accident.