2 dead in Saudi pile-up
Poor visibility blamed for 17-vehicle collision on key road
Riyadh: Seventeen vehicles collided on a road near the Saudi capital Riyadh due to bad weather, leaving two people dead, local media reported.
The mishap occurred on the road linking Riyadh and the western city of Taif, the news portal Sabq said. The area was hit by electricity outage and a cut in mobile phone service at the time, Sabq added.
The collision was due to poor visibility caused by dust-laden winds, according to the report. An unspecified number of people were also injured in the accident that prompted medical and civil defence teams to rush to the site.
A video posted online shows several trucks and cars ploughing into each other on the scene.
Road crashes resulted in 10,961 deaths in Saudi Arabia in 2017, according to official figures.
The tragedies were mainly blamed on reckless driving.
Traffic accidents in the kingdom have dropped by 33 per cent in recent years, a report by the governmental Traffic Safety Committee said. The decline is attributed to stricter enforcement of road regulations and expanded use of relevant advanced technology.