Tag: pilgrims

S.African president sends condolences after bus crash kills 45 Easter pilgrims

JOHANNESBURG, March 29, 2024 (AFP) – South African President Cyril Ramaphosa expressed his condolences on Friday over an Easter bus crash that only an eight-year-old girl survived out of 46 people on board. She had been admitted to hospital after Thursday’s crash but did not suffer serious injury. Police have said they are investigating a case of culpable homicide, with the driver among the dead after allegedly losing control. The accident occurred when the bus […]

Saudi king orders reopening of Qatar border to pilgrims

  RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) – Saudi Arabia’s King Salman has ordered the reopening of the border with Qatar to facilitate the annual hajj pilgrimage, state media said Thursday, in the first signs of a thaw after the region’s worst diplomatic crisis in years. The border had been shut after regional kingpin Saudi Arabia as well as Egypt, Bahrain and the United  Arab Emirates severed diplomatic and trade ties with Qatar on June 5, accusing […]