Saudi Arabia bus crash: 45 Indians on Umrah pilgrim die, Hyderabad man survives miraculously | Top points

TRagedy come to amerind Umrah pilgrims in saudi arabian Arabia on mon forenoon when at least 45 such pilgrims, most of whom were from Telangana's Hyderabad, were killed after the bus carrying from from Mecca to Madinah collided with a diesel tanker, said the state government.The incident reportedly happened at around 1.30 am (IST) at Mufrihat at around 160 km from Madinah. Most of the pilgrims on the bus were charred to death with only one known survivor so far.Telangana's chief minister Revanth Reddy, Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu, along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the death of the victims.Telangana government also announced a compensation of ₹5 lakh for the families of the victims.Here are the top points on Saudi bus accident -Hyderabad Police Commissioner VC Sajjanar said on Monday that 45 Umrah pilgrims from Hyderabad and other parts of Telangana died in the tragic accident and only one person survived as the bus caught fire after the accident in Saudi Arabia.Detailing how the accident unfolded, Sajjanar said that it happened when the bus with pilgrims onboard was going from Mecca to Madinah and it collided with an oil tanker leading to an explosion due to which, fire engulfed the vehicle within a matter of minutes.After fire erupted due to the accident, it spread so quickly that passengers did not get any time to escape. “The fire spread rapidly, leaving no time for most passengers to escape,” said Sajjanar, according to news agency ANI.The group of pilgrims, which consisted of 54 pilgrims, had reportedly departed from Hyderabad on November 9 and had completed their Umrah rituals in Mecca. They were on their way to Madinah when the accident happened. The group consisted of 20 women and 11 children.Out of the 54 pilgrims, four had taken a car to go to Madinah while other four chose to stay in Mecca for some personal reasons and the rest 46 pilgrims took the ill-fated bus.Among the victims is also a man from Karnataka's Hubbali, identified as Abdul Ghani Shirhatti, news agency ANI reported citing his younger brother Faruque Shirhatti. According to Faruque, his elder brother was working in Abu Dhabi for the last 25 years as a driver and went for Umrah on November 9.The man who survived the accident is identified as 24-year-old Md Abdul Shoeb and is hospitalised in an ICU in Saudi Arabia.Shoaeb could get enough sleep on the bus and thus, moved to the seat next to -the bus driver to perhaps chat with him. When the accident happened, Shoeb jumped out of the window of the bus along with the driver before fire erupted. However, Shoeb lost his parents, grandfather and three members of his uncle’s family in the accident.A man, 35-year-old Syed Rashid, lost 18 members of his family in the tragedy including his father Shaik Naseeruddin (65), mother Akhter Begum (60), his brother (38) and sister-in-law (35) and their three children, Sirajuddin, who lived in the United States with his 40-year-old wife Sana, 40, their three children, and others.“When I saw them off at the Hyderabad airport on November 9 for the Umrah pilgrimage, I never imagined that I would be seeing them for the last time. I told them not to travel together, especially with children. But they did not listen. At least some of them would have survived, had they heeded to my advice,” Rashid said.(With inputs from ANI, PTI)