RIYADH, Jan 5: At least four Pakistani Haj pilgrims, including three women, died when the bus carrying them to Madinah from Makkah met an accident on Tareeq Al Hijra, some 55km south of Madinah, it was confirmed on Monday.

Akhtari Bibi, daughter of Abdul Aziz, of Islamabad; Mohammad Khurshid, son of Mohammad Jee, of Islamabad; Memoona Hameed, daughter of Abdul Hameed, of Rawalpindi; and Tasnim Aleem, daughter of Abdul Aleem, of Rawalpindi, died in the accidents. Ms Hameed and Ms Aleem had the same address of Khayaban-i-Sir Syed, Rawalpindi, on their identification papers.

At least 36 more people were on the bus that met the accident on Sunday evening. All of them were taken to the King Fahd Hospital, where 10 of them were later released. Another seven injured were in the intensive care unit of the hospital, a Pakistani official confirmed.

The driver lost control of the bus after its tyre was punctured. About 30,735 pilgrims have reached Saudi Arabia from Pakistan for the Haj. Of them, 16,531 are reported to be in Madinah and the rest in Makkah.