An 85-year-old motorist and his two daughters were killed Monday when their car plunged 200 meters off a mountain road in Baljurashi and crashed into the valley below. The accident took place at a hairpin bend on the road hugging the steep mountainside at the Abnaa Mountain Pass, said Col. Ibrahim Al-Zahrani, Director of Civil Defense in Al-Baha Region. He said it appeared that the old man lost control of the car and veered off road. Civil Defense, Traffic and Red Crescent teams managed to descend into the valley and retrieve the dead bodies and the car. They tied ropes to the bodies and hauled them up. It was the worst accident in Baljurashi in recent times. The Governor of Baljurashi conveyed his condolences to the family of the dead. The women who died were aged 31 and 34. They had gone on a visit to relatives in Baljurashi and were on their way back to Tihama when the accident happened. Col. Al-Zahrani, said that the dangerous hairpin bends at the Abnaa mountain pass have been a cause of concern and that a subcommittee in Baljurashi was looking into the matter when the accident happened. On the Jeddah-Abha road, a speeding car collided with a truck and caught fire, Monday. All the occupants of the car – members of one family, escaped without serious injury, police said. Police and Civil Defense personnel from Al-Aradhiah Al-Janoubiah were quick to extinguish the fire. The truck driver also escaped unhurt. On the Jeddah-Mahayil-Asir Road, Monday, a speeding car knocked down a Saudi man crossing the street. He died later in Mahayil Hospital, a source there said. The motorist was arrested, police said. In another instance of rash driving, an Asian driver speeding in a truck full of cement caused the entire consignment to spill over and block the southern road at the gateway to Al-Qaissoumah, police said Monday. On Al-Innabiah Road, a car overturned and injured five members of a family inside. A source at King Khalid Hospital said one of the injured was a bride heading home for her wedding night. Sources at Al-Namass Hospital reported three other injuries in two road accidents Monday, one in Bani Amr rural center and the other in Tanoumah town. – Okaz. – With reporting by Ali Al-Ghamdi, Sultan Al-Qarni, Al-Hasan Aal Sayyid and Fahd Al-Meraikhi from Al-Baha, Abha, Khamis Mushayt and Hafr Al-Batin respectively. __
