6 Indonesian pilgrims killed in bus crash in Saudi Arabia

The vehicle flipped and caught fire after a collision about 150km outside of Jeddah yesterday.

Around a million Indonesians make the Umrah pilgrimage every year in Saudi Arabia. (AFP pic)

JAKARTA: Six Indonesians on a Muslim pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia during Ramadan have died in a bus crash and 14 others were injured, Indonesia’s foreign ministry said today.

The accident happened about 150km outside of Jeddah yesterday, when the bus flipped and caught fire after a collision, the ministry said in a statement.

The injured were being treated in hospital, the ministry said, adding it had notified families of all the victims, who had been taking part in an Umrah pilgrimage.

Indonesia is the world’s biggest Muslim-majority country and around 1 million citizens make the Umrah pilgrimage every year in Saudi Arabia, which hosts Islam’s two holiest sites in Mecca and Medina.

The Umrah can be performed at any time and is a voluntary pilgrimage for Muslims.