11 Bangladeshis killed in Saudi road crash

At least 11 Bangladesh nationals were killed in a road accident yesterday in Saudi Arabia, which is described as one of the worst incidents involving Bangladeshis apart from Hajj. The accident took place when a vehicle hit from behind a truck carrying 20 Bangladeshi migrant workers to their workplace in Jizan province of the kingdom, officials of the Bangladesh embassy in Riyadh and consulate general in Jeddah told The Independent yesterday. The place of incident is 800 kilometres away from Jeddah and close to border with Yemen, they said.

“So far the death toll from the tragic incident is at 11. We have already dispatched our official to the place of incident,” Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Golam Moshi told this correspondent over phone from Riyadh. “Unfortunately, this is one of the worst incidents involving Bangladeshis in this country. We are doing everything necessary in this regard, including treatment for the injured,” he said. After all the legal formalities, as per the desire of the families of the bereaved, bodies will either be repatriated to Bangladesh or buried here, said the envoy. “It takes a long time to repatriate the bodies from Saudi Arabia,” he added. FM Borhan Uddin, consul general of the consulate general in Jeddah, told The Independent over phone that out of the 11 deceased, identities of seven could so far been ascertained.

“We have already sent one of our officials to the scene to have the better understanding of the circumstances. As the scene of accident is far from Jeddah, it is taking some time to get the real picture,” he said.

11 Bangladeshis killed in Saudi road crash

At least 11 Bangladesh nationals were killed in a road accident yesterday in Saudi Arabia, which is described as one of the worst incidents involving Bangladeshis apart from Hajj. The accident took place when a vehicle hit from behind a truck carrying 20 Bangladeshi migrant workers to their workplace in Jizan province of the kingdom, officials of the Bangladesh embassy in Riyadh and consulate general in Jeddah told The Independent yesterday. The place of incident is 800 kilometres away from Jeddah and close to border with Yemen, they said. So far the death toll from the tragic incident is at 11. We have already dispatched our official to the place of incident, Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Golam Moshi told this correspondent over phone from Riyadh. Unfortunately, this is one of the worst incidents involving Bangladeshis in this country. We are doing everything necessary in this regard, including treatment for the injured, he said. After all the legal formalities, as per the desire of the families of the bereaved, bodies will either be repatriated to Bangladesh or buried here, said the envoy. It takes a long time to repatriate the bodies from Saudi Arabia, he added. FM Borhan Uddin, consul general of the consulate general in Jeddah, told The Independent over phone that out of the 11 deceased, identities of seven could so far been ascertained. We have already sent one of our officials to the scene to have the better understanding of the circumstances. As the scene of accident is far from Jeddah, it is taking some time to get the real picture, he said.