Britons among Saudi road crash dead

A number of Britons have died in a serious road crash in Saudi Arabia.

Those killed on were from Blackburn and Preston and travelling from Mecca on an Umra pilgrimage.

Lancashire-based Hashim Travel said that on Saturday the coach was hit by a fuel tanker which then caught fire and set the bus alight.

A Foreign Office (FCO) spokesman confirmed there were UK fatalities among the victims.

The spokesman said: "We are supporting the British families of those who have died and those injured following a serious road traffic accident near the town of Al Khalas, Saudi Arabia."

The travel firm said relatives of those who have died - who it said were a man, a woman and a mother and son - had been informed.

It is understood that a young child is among the injured.

The crash happened at the start of their five-hour road trip from Mecca to Medina, near the town of Al Khalas.

Al Khalas is a settlement roughly 30 miles north of the holy site of Mecca.