RIYADH, Jan 25: Twenty-nine people were killed in Saudi Arabia's western city of Madina this week after rain, described as the worst in 20 years, and flood waters swept cars off roads and destroyed a bridge, a newspaper said on Tuesday.

Another 17 people were wounded, al-Madina quoted regional governor Prince Muqrin bin Abdul-Aziz as saying. The rain, said by some local newspapers as the heaviest downpour in the desert country for two decades, hit western Saudi Arabia on Saturday and disrupted the last day of the Haj pilgrimage in Makkah.

"We have seen enormous damage to the roads, electricity and communications," Prince Muqrin told the newspaper after touring the flood-hit area. Al-Madina published pictures of a collapsed bridge and cars swept into palm trees by the force of the water. -Reuters