At least 25 people die in road accident in Saudi Arabia

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
At least 25 people died and seven others were wounded Saturday after their bus crashed over a cliff on a mountainous road in southern Saudi Arabia. The official Saudi Press Agency said 25 people were killed and eight wounded, citing Col. Abdulla al-Qurni, a local police spokesman in the southern district of Assir where the crash took place. But Okaz newspaper, which is close to the government, reported that 26 people died and seven were wounded. The paper said the bus was carrying 50 people when it started its journey from the capital Riyadh, but many of them were dropped off before the crash occurred. The bus drifted to the side of the road, breached a bridge guardrail and landed in a deep valley near the southwestern city of Abha, said Okaz. The Saudi reports did not provide details on the nationalities of the deceased, but the Egyptian daily Al Gomhuria reported that 7 Egyptians died in the accident.