INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
A statement from the British embassy said 17 British pilgrims were aboard the bus
collided with a fuel tanker, officials said on Sunday.The crash occurred on Saturday near the western Saudi town of Al Khalas while the
pilgrims were on their way to the holy city of Mecca."The royal embassy of Saudi Arabia in London is working with (Britain's ) Foreign
Office to issue emergency visas immediately to both the relatives of the four pilgrims who died as well as to families of the 12 British
pilgrims who were injured," the embassy said in a statement."The injured have been taken to a hospital in Mecca where everything possible is
being done to care for them."The Saudi ambassador to Britain Mohammed bin Nawaf also tweeted his "sincere sympathies".The embassy's
statement said 17 British pilgrims were aboard the bus.The fatalities included a 70-year-old grandmother from Blackburn, in northern
England, and an elderly man, a mother and her grown-up son, all from the neighbouring city of Preston, according to media reports in
Britain.Ben Wallace, a lawmaker for the area in the UK parliament, wrote on Twitter: "My thoughts are with the family and friends of those
that are reported to have been invlolved in an accident in Saudi Arabia."A local company, Hashim Travel, reportedly organised the
tour.Gulfaraz Zaman, its director, told the BBC the accident was "horrendous"."If you see the remains of the bus, there's just the metal
frame of it that's left," he said.In a brief statement, a spokesman for the British Foreign Office said: "We are supporting the British
families of those who have died and those injured following a serious road traffic accident".A spokesperson for CBHUK (The Council of
pilgrimage or the umra.In January 2017, a two-month old baby was among six British nationals killed in a road accident in Saudi Arabia while
they were travelling to Medina, according to British officials.In 2015, around 2,300 worshippers performing hajj were crushed to death in a
stampede, in the worst disaster ever to strike the annual pilgrimage.(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by staff and
is published from a syndicated feed.)
