New Delhi: Forty-five pilgrims who had travelled from Hyderabad to Saudi Arabia earlier this month were killed when a bus ferrying them to Medina was involved in an accident with an oil tanker overnight, Hyderabad police commissioner V.C. Sajjanar said on Monday (November 17).

A lone survivor, Mohammad Abdul Shoaib, is being treated in a local ICU, Sajjanar said.

Shoaib and the 45 deceased were among a group of 54 people who had travelled from Hyderabad to Jeddah on November 9. Four of them travelled to Medina by car on Sunday and four others stayed back in Mecca, with the remaining 46 boarding the ill-fated bus to Medina, Sajjanar said at a press conference.

The bus was involved in an accident with an oil tanker some 25 kilometres away from Medina, the police commissioner said.

The bodies of the 45 deceased were moved to a local hospital and Shoaib is receiving treatment in the ICU of the Saudi German Hospital, he said.

India's consulate in Jeddah identified the passengers as having travelled to Saudi Arabia for umrah, which is a pilgrimage to Mecca other than at the time of hajj.

A round-the-clock control room has been set up at the consulate.

Along with the Indian embassy in Riyadh, the consulate is in touch with Saudi Arabia's hajj and umrah ministry, other local authorities and “the concerned umrah operators” in addition to officials of the Telangana government, it said in a statement.

Consulate staffers and Indian community volunteers are providing assistance at local hospitals and sites on the ground, it added.

At chief minister Revanth Reddy's orders a control room was also set up at the Telangana Bhavan in Delhi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the deaths. “Deeply saddened by the accident in Medinah involving Indian nationals. My thoughts are with the families who have lost their loved ones. I pray for the swift recovery of all those injured,” he wrote on X, adding that the Indian embassy in Riyadh and the consulate in Jeddah “are providing all possible assistance”.

External affairs minister S. Jaishankar also expressed his condolences, saying he was “deeply shocked” by what happened.

Reddy too issued a condolatory message on X. “The road accident that occurred in Saudi Arabia has caused profound shock. The news that several residents of Telangana, who were traveling to Mecca, have died in this incident has caused intense sorrow,” he wrote in Telugu.

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