Five Indians die in Saudi accident

Riyadh: Five Indians from Kerala were killed in Saudi Arabia when their vehicle was hit by a speeding trailer, a newspaper reported on Friday.

All five -- Santosh Kumar, Iqbal Noman, Tulsi Krishnan, Ravindra Nair and Shiva Kumar Bhagvati Pillai -- died on the spot on Thursday, the Arab News quoted Indian embassy official Manoj Kumar as saying.

They were employees of a private company in Dammam and were travelling from a work site when the accident occurred at Salwa, he said. Their bodies were taken to the Aramco Hospital.

"The embassy is in contact with the company and helping to send (the bodies) to their families back in India," he said.

Two of the victims were from Kerala's capital Thiruvananthapuram, two from Kollam district while one man was from Alappuzha district.

Last week, four members of a Riyadh-based Indian family returning from Makkah died when their car collided with a truck.