Transporting worshippers round Saudi Arabia’s holy websites has often confirmed harmful.
Printed On 17 Nov 2025
Dozens of Indian Muslims are reported to have been killed as a bus carrying them between pilgrimage websites in Saudi Arabia crashed.
The bus, which was reportedly carrying 46 folks, collided with a diesel tanker on a freeway because it travelled from the holy metropolis of Mecca to Medina in a single day on Monday.
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Indian media experiences haven’t confirmed the dying toll, however one official reported that as much as 45 folks – many from the southern Indian state of Telangana, had perished.
Diplomats and politicians expressed their condolences over the “tragic” incident.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on social media that he was “deeply saddened”, that his “ideas are with the households who’ve misplaced their family members”, and that he was praying “for the swift restoration of all these injured”.
The Indian consulate in Jeddah stated a management room has been set as much as present helplines.
Deeply saddened by the accident in Medinah involving Indian nationals. My ideas are with the households who’ve misplaced their family members. I pray for the swift restoration of all these injured. Our Embassy in Riyadh and Consulate in Jeddah are offering all attainable help. Our…
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 17, 2025
Vishwanath Channappa Sajjanar, police chief of Hyderabad, capital of Telangana, advised a information convention: “There have been 46 folks within the bus and one passenger survived with accidents.”
A lot of the victims had been from two households, he added. The injured passenger was named as Mohammed Shoaib.
The police are involved with the journey company by which the pilgrims had travelled to Saudi Arabia, Sajjanar continued.
Harmful highway
Transporting worshippers round Saudi Arabia’s holy websites has often confirmed harmful, notably in the course of the Hajj, when roads might be chaotic with buses creating interminable site visitors jams.
Hundreds of thousands additionally go to Saudi Arabia for the Umrah pilgrimage, which occurs at any time exterior the Hajj interval.
In March 2023, a bus carrying pilgrims to Mecca burst into flames after a collision on a bridge, killing 20 folks and injuring greater than two dozen.
In October 2019, 35 had been killed and 4 injured when a bus collided with one other heavy automobile close to Medina.
Pilgrimages are a vital part of Saudi Arabia’s burgeoning tourism sector that officers hope will assist diversify the dominion’s economic system away from fossil fuels.
The Gulf kingdom can be house to greater than two million Indian nationals who’ve lengthy performed a pivotal function in its labour market, serving to assemble lots of the nation’s mega-projects whereas sending billions of {dollars} in remittances again house every year.
Saudi Arabia and India have fostered a detailed relationship for many years.
India’s quickly growing economic system depends closely on petroleum imports, with Saudi Arabia ranked as its third-largest provider, based on the Indian Ministry of Exterior Affairs.
