At least nine Pakistani Umrah pilgrims, including women and children, have lost their lives in a road accident in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan-based ARY News reported on Wednesday night.
As per details, nine Pakistani citizens died while five others sustained injuries in the road accident.
The Pakistani pilgrims were travelling to Riyadh from Madinah after performing Umrah when they met with an unfortunate accident near the Al Qasim area, media reports say.
The victims are said to be the residents of Nankana Sahib’s neighbouring villages Islamnagar and Chak 18. They were in Saudi Arabia on visit visas.
In March, a bus carrying pilgrims to Makkah overturned, killing at least 20 passengers.
According to Saudi media, the accident occurred on the 14km-long Aqabat Shaar road in the Asir province, as the bus was travelling from Khamis Mushayt to Abha.
The road, according to Saudi Press Agency, cuts through mountains, and has 11 tunnels and 32 bridges. When the bus was making its way down a bridge it underwent a brake failure, which caused it to crash into a barrier at the end of the bridge, overturn and catch fire. About 29 other people were also injured in the accident, according to reports.