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People gather after at least 45 people, most of them from Hyderabad, were killed in a bus accident in Saudi Arabia, in Hyderabad. (PTI)
As a Telangana government delegation led by Minorities Minister Mohammed Azharuddin left for Saudi Arabia to coordinate with local authorities and help the families of the victims, Shaik Syed Abdul Rasheed, 28, is yet to come to terms with the tragedy that has befallen his extended family. Rasheed said that 18 members of his family – uncles, aunts, sisters, nieces and nephews – died in the accident near Medinah in the early hours of Monday, killing 45 umrah pilgrims.
According to Nampally MLA Mohammed Majid Hussain, 18 members related to Shaik Naseeruddin of Vidyanagar, a retired railway security guard, had gone to perform umrah and perished in the mishap. “We are verifying the names and addresses of these 18 members of the single family,” said Hussain, who is also part of the delegation that left for Jeddah.
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According to Rasheed, nephew of Naseeruddin, 11 members lived in a house in Vidyanagar, while seven others lived in various parts of Hyderabad but spent at least two days together at the house of Naseeruddin before departing for Mecca on November 9.
Rasheed said that he had expressed apprehension about so many of his relatives travelling together. “My uncle Naseeruddin’s son, Siraj, who lives in the US, is the only surviving member of his family now, apart from his three sons-in-law, who did not go and live in various parts of Hyderabad. He could not go to Saudi Arabia, but his wife and two children did, and are among the victims,” he said.
According to officials, Naseeruddin, his wife Akhtar Begum, son Salahuddin, daughters Amina, Shabana and Rizwana, daughters-in-law Farhana and Sana, and ten grandchildren – Aneesa, Rida, Mehreen, Zainuddin, Fatima, Mariam, Umaiza, Tahreen, Huzaifa, Uzair, Shazain, Ahmed, and Syed – were on the bus. In Asifnagar’s Krishna Nagar enclave, Mohammed Razzak, who could not travel to Mecca due to ill-health, lost four members, including his wife Shokat Begum, son Mohammed Mansoor, daughter-in-law Farheen, and granddaughter Zaheen Begum.
The Telangana Government has announced an ex gratia of Rs 5 lakh each to the families of the victims. Advisor to the Telangana government, Mohammed Ali Shabbir, said that efforts are being made to send two relatives of each of the victims to Saudi Arabia to complete the formalities, as it has been decided to conduct the final rites there. A delegation led by Azharuddin, MLA Hussain and others has left for Saudi Arabia to oversee coordination with local authorities and the Indian Embassy.
“The purpose of the delegation is to work directly with families, ensure smooth formalities, and support the transport or burial process as per the family’s wishes,” Shabbir said.
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