Riyadh: At least 42 Indian Umrah pilgrims are feared dead after a bus travelling from Mecca to Medina collides with a diesel tanker in Saudi Arabia on Monday. The incident took place at around 1:30 am IST.
According to local reports, the bus, in which the Indians pilgrims were travelling, caught fire at the collision. At the time of the incident all the devotees were sleeping.
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Residents of Hyderabad are among the victims. The Telangana government said it is in contact with the Indian Embassy in Riyadh. In an official statement, the state government confirmed that chief minister Revanth Reddy has alerted officials in New Delhi and instructed them to coordinate closely with embassy authorities.
Reportedly several residents from Hyderabad were on the bus that was travelling from Mecca to Medina, according to the Telangana CMO.
Telangana Chief Secretary in Hyderabad, Ramakrishna Rao alerted the Resident Commissioner Gaurav Uppal who is in Delhi. He ordered to collect details on how many people belonging to our state are in the accident and provide them immediately as per the CMO.
A control room has been set up at the Secretariat to monitor details and relief measures .The state government also issued helpline numbers for the relatives of the victims.
These helpline numbers are - +91 79979 59754, +91 99129 19545.
Hyderabad Lok Sabha MP and AIMIM chief, Asaduddin Owaisi, also expressed grief after a bus carrying Indian Umrah pilgrims on its way to Medina from Mecca met with an accident in Saudi Arabia and urged the Centre to bring back the bodies.
Owaisi told ANI that he has spoken to Abu Mathen George, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Indian Embassy in Riyadh, and also contacted two Hyderabad-based travel agencies and shared the passengers' details with the Riyadh Embassy and the Foreign Secretary.
