By Rajiv Menon 
New Delhi, November 17: The first signs that something terrible had happened came long before any official note did. In Hyderabad, people were up early, checking phones, wondering why their relatives traveling for Umrah in Saudi Arabia hadn’t sent their usual good-morning messages. A few calls rang once. Most didn’t connect. By the time the whispers reached local news desks, relatives already suspected the worst.
The Crash On The Road To Madinah
As the morning unfolded, reports from Saudi Arabia confirmed everyone’s fear. A bus carrying Indian Umrah pilgrims had slammed into a diesel tanker on the road toward Madinah, sometime deep in the night. The fire that followed left little to salvage. Outlets, including Mint and The Federal, said between 42 and 45 Indians were on board, almost all from Hyderabad. Only one made it out alive.
People who know that stretch of road say the danger isn’t unusual. Once heavy tankers start moving after midnight, a single mistake can set off a chain reaction. Diesel turns a crash into a firestorm.
The Ministry Learns The Details In Real Time
When the incident reached External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, he posted that he was shocked and that the Indian Embassy in Riyadh and the Consulate in Jeddah were already coordinating with Saudi officials. His message didn’t try to soften anything. It felt like an acknowledgement of a tragedy still unravelling.
The Economic Times reported that the consulate set up a 24-hour control room almost immediately. Officials there have spent the day juggling calls from Saudi hospitals, local police, and frantic families back in India. Early lists didn’t match the travel manifests, and each correction meant one more round of calls.
Hyderabad’s Long, Uneasy Day
By late morning, travel agencies that arranged the Umrah groups turned into makeshift information centres. People gathered outside with photocopies, phone numbers, and scraps of paper with handwritten names. Many said they remembered exactly when their relatives boarded the bus, but nobody could tell them which hospital to call.
One man outside a small office in the old city kept pacing up and down the footpath, saying he had two cousins on the bus. It was the same story across several neighbourhoods. Entire families were waiting at once.
Condolences Arrive, But Families Want Certainty
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief and said India would coordinate closely with Saudi authorities. The message mattered, but it didn’t reduce the waiting. Identifying victims in a crash involving a tanker fire is delicate work. Officials on both sides have resisted giving names too early, fearing a misidentification that could ripple through an entire community.
Embassy staff are comparing names across Saudi police reports, hospital lists, and the original group bookings. No one wants to tell a family the wrong thing.
What Saudi Investigators Are Trying To Establish
Reports from The Logical Indian say the investigation is focused on the tanker: whether it was stalled, turning, or moving at the time of impact. Footage from nearby checkpoints is being pulled. First responders are being interviewed. None of the early theories is being treated as final.
People with experience covering such accidents say reconstructions involving tankers are rarely straightforward. The presence of fuel complicates everything.
Hospitals Struggle To Identify Survivors
A handful of injured passengers were taken to hospitals in Madinah, but some arrived without documents. Embassy officials have been calling hospital administrators directly, trying to link a face to a name. Those calls take time. Families back home say they’ve kept their phones on maximum volume, terrified they’ll miss the ring they’ve been waiting for.
Repatriation Won’t Be Quick
According to The Times of India, embassy teams have already begun preparing the paperwork needed for repatriation. But Saudi procedures require multiple layers of clearance. And none of that begins until final identification is complete.
Officials familiar with past tragedies say that when bodies are severely burned, dental or DNA testing becomes unavoidable, stretching timelines by days.
A Risk Long Known, Rarely Addressed
People in the Pilgrims travel sector say this crash follows a pattern. Each season, groups from India use buses subcontracted within Saudi Arabia. Standards differ. Oversight isn’t always consistent. After every major accident, there are calls for stronger monitoring, but little change before the next season begins.
This incident, with so many casualties from a single city, may force a more serious conversation.
Waiting For News Nobody Wants To Hear
More information will trickle in overnight and tomorrow. Hospitals are expected to send updated lists. Investigators may share early conclusions with Indian officials. Telangana authorities are preparing for a tough week of paperwork and counselling.
For now, families in Hyderabad are living minute to minute. They keep their phones close, refresh messages that haven’t changed, and hope quietly, stubbornly that the next call brings an answer, even if it isn’t the one they prayed for.
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- Rajiv Menonhttps://hindustanherald.in/author/rajiv/
- Rajiv Menonhttps://hindustanherald.in/author/rajiv/
- Rajiv Menonhttps://hindustanherald.in/author/rajiv/
- Rajiv Menonhttps://hindustanherald.in/author/rajiv/
Ananya Sharma