In a heartbreaking incident on the sacred Mecca–Madinah route, at least 42 Indian Umrah pilgrims—many of them from Hyderabad—lost their lives when their passenger bus collided with a diesel tanker in the early hours of Monday. The crash, which occurred around 1:30 am, instantly turned a spiritual journey into a scene of unimaginable devastation.

The pilgrims, returning to Madinah after completing their holy rituals in Mecca, were reportedly asleep when the violent impact took place. Among the deceased are 20 women and 11 children, making the tragedy even more gut-wrenching. Survivors remain in critical condition, and emergency teams are racing against time to treat the wounded. Local residents were among the first to rush to the accident site, helping rescue those trapped in the mangled remains of the bus.

The magnitude of the tragedy has sent shockwaves across Telangana. Chief Minister Revanth Reddy expressed deep anguish and immediately swung into action. Ordering an urgent fact-finding mission, he directed the Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police to coordinate with central agencies and determine how many people from Telangana were affected.

According to the Telangana CMO, the Chief Minister instructed senior officials to hold direct communication with the Ministry of External Affairs and the Saudi Embassy to ensure swift relief. “He ordered that, if necessary, they should immediately enter the field to provide appropriate relief efforts,” the CMO stated.

Following the CM’s directives, Chief Secretary Ramakrishna Rao alerted Resident Commissioner Gaurav Uppal in Delhi, tasking him with gathering accurate information about the victims from the state and providing support without delay. A special control room has been set up at the Secretariat to assist families and coordinate official response efforts.