Saudi Arabia: 4 expats dead in Tabuk road crash
Witnesses: The victims were riding in back of the vehicle
Cairo: Four Arab expatriates were killed and several others seriously injured after their vehicle flipped over in north-western Saudi Arabia, according to a media report.
The accident happened on Saturday when the pickup truck that was carrying labourers turned over on a desert road about 80 kilometres from the Tabuk city, Saudi news website Al Marsd said.
The victims were riding in the back of the vehicle because their number was large while returning from the Saudi port city of Jeddah, witnesses said.
In the aftermath, Red Crescent teams and medical evacuation helicopters were dispatched to the scene to help the victims.
The exact cause of the accident is not clear yet.
In recent months, Saudi Arabia has seen a string of road accidents amid stepped-up efforts to crack down on recklesss driving.
Earlier this month, one child was killed and 22 people injured in two road crashes in the kingdom.
In January, four young men were killed and three others injured in a collision between their cars in the Muhayil governorate in south-western Saudi Arabia.
In November, a collision involving three cars killed eight people and critically injured five others also in south-western Saudi Arabia.
In September, a bus flipped over, leaving four people dead and seven others wounded in the coastal governorate of Al Wajh in north-western Saudi Arabia.
Some 4,555 people died as a result of traffic accidents in Saudi Arabia in 2022, according to official figures.
There were 16,962 serious road accidents in 2022, down 6.8 per cent against the previous year, the Saudi General Authority for Statistics said. Those accidents claimed 4,555 lives, with a 2.1% drop compared to 2021.