ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday expressed his heartfelt sorrow after a bus crash in Saudi Arabia’s southwestern region claimed at least 20 lives, a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said.
Saudi state TV Al-Ekhbariya said the accident occurred around 4 p.m. on Monday at Aqabat Shaar when a bus, carrying Umrah pilgrims, was on its way to Saudi Arabia’s Abha city in the kingdom’s Asir province. Reports indicated that complications with the bus’s brakes caused it to collide with a barrier at the end of a bridge, causing the vehicle to overturn and catch fire. At least 29 were reported to be injured.
The pilgrims were on their way to Makkah to perform Umrah.
“Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif expressed his heartfelt sorrow and grief over the accident involving a bus full of pilgrims,” the PMO said in a statement. “The prime minister expressed his condolences with families of the victims and prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured.”
The prime minister prayed for the forgiveness of the deceased.
