Seven people died and 43 others were injured when a bus carrying them overturned near Al-Hawmiyat rural center on Thursday. A car crashed into the side of the bus causing it to swerve off the road and overturn several times. The bus was carrying passengers from Al-Ahsa to Makkah to perform Umrah. Red Crescent teams from Al-Hawmiyat, Dhulam, Al-Muwaih, Afeef, Halban and Al-Khassirah moved the injured to Al-Hawmiyat Health Center, from where 12 passengers with serious injuries were transferred to Afeef General Hospital while others were referred to Afeef and Al-Khassirah hospitals. According to Sultan Al-Hajri, Director of Afeef Hospital, the hospital declared a state of emergency and sounded red alert. He said the hospital received six bodies and 22 injured patients, some of them serious. One of the injured was transferred to Riyadh Medical Complex as one of his hands was severed. The driver of the small car said he lost control of his vehicle, which veered and crashed into the bus. Road security patrols, policemen from Al-Hawmiyat and Civil Defense teams exerted great efforts in organizing traffic and providing the injured with first aid. Ten of the Umrah performers suffered slight injuries. The outpatient clinics of Afeef Hospital were opened to receive the cases. Many of the citizens of Afeef, the hospital's staff and security men donated blood to save the lives of the injured. – Okaz __
