Saudi bus accident: Control room opened at Indian Consulate in Jeddah
Hyderabad: The Consulate General of India in Jeddah has set up a control room in view of the bus accident near Madina, involving Indian Umrah pilgrims.
“In view of a tragic bus accident near Madina, Saudi Arabia, involving Indian Umrah pilgirms, a 24×7 Control Room has been set up in Consulate General of India, Jeddah. The contact details of the Helpline are as under: 8002440003 (Toll free) 0122614093 0126614276 0556122301 (WhatsApp),” reads a post from the Consulate General on ‘X’.
The Telangana government has also set up a control room at Telangana Bhavan, New Delhi.
Senior officials at Telangana Bhavan are in direct contact with the Indian Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Efforts are underway to ascertain the full details of the accident and confirm how many individuals from Telangana were involved.
Control Room Contact Numbers at Telangana Bhavan, New Delhi:
Vandhana, PS to Resident Commissioner and Liaison Head: +91 98719 99044
CH. Chakravarthi, Public Relations Officer: +91 99583 22143
Rakshith Nail, Liaison Officer: +91 96437 23157
Senior officials of the Telangana government were in touch with the Indian embassy in Riyadh and the Consulate General in Jeddah to gather details about the Umrah pilgrims who died in a road accident near Madina early Monday.
According to the Chief Minister’s Office, the officials spoke to the Consulate General in Jeddah and the Deputy Ambassador in Riyadh and sought complete information on whether there are any pilgrims from Telangana among the victims, and if so, how many.
They instructed the Resident Commissioner and Coordination Secretary in Delhi to coordinate with the officials of the Ministry of External Affairs and provide complete details.
According to unconfirmed media reports, at least 42 Indian Umrah pilgrims are feared dead after a passenger bus travelling from Mecca to Madina collided with a diesel tanker early Monday.
The incident occurred around 1.30 a.m. IST at a location identified as Mufrihat.
The victims, including women and children, were reported from Hyderabad. The group was returning from Mecca after completing their rituals and was en route to Madina at the time of the accident.
The Telangana government has also set up a control room in the Secretariat at Hyderabad to provide appropriate information and assistance to the families of the bus accident victims.
The telephone numbers of the control room are: +91 79979 59754 and +91 99129 19545
Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi said he spoke to the Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) at the Indian Embassy in Riyadh, who informed him that they were gathering details.
The MP also contacted two Hyderabad-based travel agencies and shared the passengers’ details with the Riyadh Embassy and the Foreign Secretary.