Hyderabad, Nov 17 (IANS) Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy expressed shock over the horrific accident involving a bus carrying Indian pilgrims in Saudi Arabia.

The state government has also set up a control room in Hyderabad to provide information and assistance to the families of the accident victims.

The accident took place while the pilgrims were travelling from Mecca to Medina. According to media reports, Hyderabadis were also among them.

According to unconfirmed media reports, at least 42 Indian Umrah pilgrims are feared dead after a passenger bus travelling from Mecca to Madina collided with a diesel tanker early Monday.

The incident occurred around 1.30 a.m. IST at a location identified as Mufrihat,

The victims, including women and children, are reported from Hyderabad. The group was returning from Mecca after completing their rituals and was en route to Madina at the time of the accident.

Responding immediately, the Chief Minister directed Chief Secretary Ramakrishna Rao and Director General of Police to find out the full details. He enquired about the number of people from Telangana.

He suggested that they talk to the officials of the Union Ministry of External Affairs and the Saudi Embassy.

Chief Secretary Ramakrishna Rao alerted Resident Commissioner Gaurav Uppal in Delhi. He directed him to collect the details of the number of people from Telangana involved in the accident.

The state government has set up a control room in the Secretariat to provide appropriate information and assistance to the families of the bus accident victims in Saudi Arabia

The telephone numbers of the control room are: +91 79979 59754 and +91 99129 19545

Initial reports from Saudi Arabia suggest that around 20 women and 11 children were in the bus at the time of the tragedy.

Officials were still verifying the exact number of casualties and the condition of survivors. Emergency services were carrying out rescue and relief operations.

Meanwhile, officials of the Telangana State Haj Committee were also trying to get the details of the accident victims.

–IANS

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