Manama: A young man was killed and another seriously injured in a freak road accident when their vehicle hit a stray camel late on Sunday in Saudi Arabia.
The accident occurred on an unlit road in the Tabuk Region in northwestern Saudi Arabia, reports said.
“The two cases were referred to King Fahd Hospital in Tabuk,” Khalid Al Enezi, the spokesperson for the Red Crescent in the region, said. “One young man has died and the other is still in hospital,” he said, quoted by Saudi news site Sabq.
The area has recently seen a resurgence of accidents related to stray camels considered a grave menace, particularly at night.
A girl in her 20s was killed and several other passengers were injured a few weeks ago when their car was hit by a stray camel on the same road.
Residents called for erecting fences to keep the animals away from the road, particularly at night.
A large number of students and teachers as well as employees use the busy road to go to school and work, they said.
The residents said that camel owners should be more careful with their camels and should ensure they do not constitute a menace to road users.
“The least they can do is to attach luminous straps on their backs so that they can be seen from far and avoided in case they come to the road,” one resident said. “This is highly necessary because camels prefer to move at night and their owners should appreciate the extent of their danger on unlit roads.”
In 2013, four people were killed and three seriously injured when their vehicle hit a stray camel.
The victims were members of the same family and were driving on an unlit road near the Saudi capital Riyadh.
In March, Saudi legal experts called for enacting a law that would penalise the owners of camels that cause road accidents.
