Desk report: At least seven Bangladeshis, including women and children, were killed and 15 others injured in a road accident in Saudi Arabia on Saturday while travelling from Medina to Jeddah.
All the deceased were residents of Chakaria upazila in Cox’s Bazar district.
Officials at the Bangladesh Consulate General in Jeddah said the victims were travelling in a vehicle from Medina to Jeddah when it lost control and crashed on a highway. All seven died at the scene.
The victims were associated with Al Abeer Cold Store Trading Company in Saudi Arabia.
Nuruzzaman, the company’s marketing manager, said the deceased included storekeeper Ziaur Rahman, his two sons and a daughter.
The other victims were the wife of Ilias, a forklift operator at the company, and Alamshah, a storekeeper working in Mecca, along with his one-month-old daughter.
Following reports of the accident, Saudi police and rescue teams rushed to the scene and recovered the bodies. They were later taken to a local hospital morgue.
The Bangladesh Consulate General in Jeddah said it would complete the necessary legal formalities to repatriate the bodies.
The consulate is coordinating with the relevant Saudi authorities and assisting the victims’ families in the process.
