Riyadh: Twenty-five people were killed when a bus overturned in southwest Saudi Arabia, police have said.

Eight other people were injured, some seriously, when the Saudi Public Transport Co (SAPTCO) bus overturned in Abha, a spokesman for the police in the Asir region, where Abha is located, told the official SPA news agency yesterday.

An initial investigation indicated that the accident was caused by faulty brakes, said the spokesman, Colonel Abdullah bin Ayedh al-Qarni.

Oil-rich Saudi Arabia has one of the world s highest rates of traffic accidents, according to its transport ministry. Road deaths have exceeded 35,000 over the past decade, with more than 200,000 people injured.

Source : PTI