Saudi accident victims' families get Rs 3 m compensation

Mohammed Rasooldeen in Riyadh

A Saudi court ruled that the families of five Sri Lankans, who died in a bus accident in June 2009, be paid Rs 3 million each as compensation for the deaths.

The verdict, ordering compensation for the families of the deceased, was issued by Riyadh General Court judge Khalid Al-Jasser, last week. The five deceased Sri Lankans included Segu Atham Lebbe Meera Lebbe Thayar of Nintavur, Subair Mafeez of Akkaraipattu, Sulaiman Lebbe Abdul Gafoor of Sammanthurai, Mohamed Anis Mohamed Amza of Addalaichenai, and W.G.Mendis Appuhamy from Kandy. Nineteen passengers, including five Sri Lankans died in an accident, when their Hofuf-bound bus collided with a truck entering from a shoulder lane during a blinding sandstorm.

The victims were burnt to death as the bus caught fire after crashing into the truck. The accident took place about 30 kms east of Riyadh.

According to reports, the crash was caused due to a heavy sandstorm that had reduced the visibility considerably. The incident took place at 8.30 p.m., an hour after the bus, carrying 19 passengers, (including the driver and his assistant) departed from the main bus terminal in Aziziyah, located in the south of Riyadh.

The first four of the five Sri Lankans who died in the accident were newly arrived construction workers. "They arrived in Riyadh and were proceeding to their workplace in Hofuf, some 300 kms from Riyadh," a diplomat from the Sri Lankan embassy told the Daily News.

The charred bodies were buried in the Kingdom following the consent by the Sri Lankan mission from the family members in Sri Lanka through the External Affairs Ministry in Colombo. He said the mission has contacted their next-of-kin through the Foreign Ministry in Colombo to seek permission to bury them in the Kingdom.

An embassy official said that on receipt of the compensation from the transport company, the mission will transfer the funds to the External Affairs Ministry in Colombo, which would contact the next-of-kin of the deceased workers for payment. The diplomat also said that Mendis' family would get only Rs 1.5 million as per the court verdict.