There were 46 passengers on board the bus, VC Sajjanar said at a press conference, adding that one man, who survived the accident, was admitted to the intensive care unit of a local hospital.
Most of the victims were from Hyderabad in southern Telangana state, the BBC reported.
The Telangana state government said in a statement that the pilgrims were traveling from Islam’s holiest city of Mecca to Medina when the accident occurred.
They were in Saudi Arabia for the Umrah pilgrimage, a shortened version of the Hajj, Islam’s biggest pilgrimage.
Sajjanar said an oil tanker was involved in the accident, but did not provide further details.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a post on X that he was “deeply saddened” by the news of the accident and that Indian authorities were in close contact with Saudi officials.
“The embassy in Riyadh and the consulate in Jeddah are providing all possible assistance,” he wrote.
The report added that control rooms have been set up in Jeddah and Hyderabad to assist the families of the victims.
Master’s degree/PR