Indian man loses 18 family members in Saudi bus crash; says he had warned them not to travel together

He had bid farewell to his family just days earlier as they left for Saudi Arabia. What 35-year-old Syed Rashid did not know was that he would never see them again. In the tragic bus accident near Madinah, he lost 18 members of his family.

Among those who died were his parents — 65-year-old Shaik Naseeruddin, a retired railway employee, and 60-year-old Akhter Begum — along with his elder brother, 38, his sister-in-law, 35, and their three children, HT reported.

Also killed were Sirajuddin, a US resident, his wife Sana and their three children, as well as extended family members: Amina Begum and her daughter, Shameena Begum and her son, and Rizwana Begum and her two children.

‘I urged them not to travel together’

Rashid, who lives near CPI(M) Marx Bhavan in Vidyanagar, said he personally saw the family off at Hyderabad airport on November 9 as they departed for Umrah.

He remembered advising them not to travel together, especially with young children.
“I never imagined that would be the last time I saw them. At least some of them would have survived had they listened,” he said.

Another grieving man, from a different family, said he had lost five relatives — two brothers-in-law, his mother-in-law and a niece.
“When authorities told me that everyone on the bus had died, I was shocked. I urge the government to bring the bodies back to India,” he said.

Families gather for updates

Throughout the day, anxious relatives gathered at Hyderabad’s Haj House to seek information about their loved ones.

A representative of Al Meena Travel Agency, a subsidiary of Al Makkah at Bazarghat, said 20 pilgrims had travelled with their group on November 9. Sixteen were on their way back to Madinah after offering prayers in Mecca.

Earlier, the agency had said that the pilgrims were untraceable — before Saudi authorities confirmed that all passengers on the ill-fated bus had died.