At least 42 Indian Umrah pilgrims, 16 of them from Telangana’s Hyderabad, are feared dead after a passenger bus carrying devotees from Mecca to Madinah collided with a diesel tanker early on Monday morning, the state government said.
The incident occurred around 1.30am IST at Mufrihat, about 160km from Madinah and there were 43 passengers on the bus, with only one known survivor so far as all the others were charred to death on the spot, according to initial reports received by the state government.
The group, said to have departed from Hyderabad on November 9, had 20 women and 11 children. They had completed their Umrah rituals in Mecca and were on their way to Madinah when tragedy struck.
Telangana information technology minister D Sridhar Babu told reporters in Hyderabad that there are at least 16 Hyderabadis among the dead. They are from Bazarghat area in Mallepalli in Hyderabad. Details of the deceased are being ascertained, he said.
“I spoke to Abu Mathen George, Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) at the Indian Embassy in Riyadh, and he assured me that they are gathering information about the matter,” All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi said.
Owaisi further said he had contacted two Hyderabad-based travel agencies and shared the passengers’ details with the Riyadh Embassy and the foreign secretary. “I request the Union Government, especially EAM Dr S. Jaishankar, to bring the bodies back to India and, if anyone is injured, ensure that they receive proper medical treatment,” he said.
Saudi Civil Defence and police rushed to the site soon after the accident. Indian officials and Umrah agency representatives too reached the spot to assist in recovery and coordinate information for families back home.
In Hyderabad, relatives of the pilgrims are anxiously waiting for updates, reaching out to travel operators and authorities as they pray for some hopeful news.
According to a representative of Al Meena Travel Agency at Bazarghat, as many as 20 passengers had left for Saudi on November 9. “After the prayers at Mecca, 16 of them were returning to Madinah in the bus. Their whereabouts are not known and we are trying to get confirmation about their death,” he said.
The pilgrims from this travel agency who are believed to be dead are: Mohammad Manzoor (50), Zaheen Begum (19), Shaukat Begam (57), Farheen Begum (43), Zakia Begum (47), Mastan Mohammad (55), Parveen Begum (35), Sohail Mohammad (23), Abdul Mohammad (24), Mohammad Maulana (62), Abdul Mohammad (57), Ghousiya Begum (46), Shehnaz Begum (41), Rahmat Bee Rehmatbee (80) and Raheem Unnisa (60).
Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy expressed deep shock over the horrific accident, and an official statement from the CMO said the accident took place while the bus was moving to Madina from Mecca. He instructed chief secretary K Ramakrishna Rao and DGP B Shivadhar Reddy to find out the details of the victims in the bus accident.
The chief minister also inquired about the number of people from Telangana travelling on the bus. The officials were also ordered to contact the external affairs ministry and Saudi Embassy to take immediate relief measures.
On the CM’s instructions, the chief secretary alerted resident commissioner Gaurav Uppal in Delhi. The chief secretary directed the resident commissioner to collect the details of the number of victims from Telangana in the accident.
A control room has also been set up in the state secretariat with the numbers: +917997959754 and +919912919545.
