Jordan: Bus crash kills 16 Palestinians en-route to Mecca

A group of 16 Palestinian pilgrims were killed late on Wednesday en route to perform the Umra in Mecca, when their bus crashed near the city of Maan, in southern Jordan, amid treacherous weather conditions.

Civil Defence sources said 32 others were injured in the crash.

"The accident took place when the bus driver lost control of the vehicle," said a Civil Defence statement obtained by The New Arab.

The casualties were taken to the Maan Government Hospital and the Queen Rania Hospital nearby. Appeals were made for citizens to donate blood.

The Jordanian Ministry of Religious Affairs said it would provide assistance to the injured Palestinian pilgrims, who are all from the West Bank.

In Ramallah, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced a day of mourning for the victims on Thursday.

President Abbas issued instructions for the bodies of the pilgrims to be returned to the Palestinian territories, and for support to be provided to the wounded.

Palestinian Muslim pilgrims from the Israeli-occupied West Bank usually travel to Saudi Arabia by land through Jordan in a 1,200km trip.

Muslim pilgrims from the Gaza Strip travel via Egypt, but the Egyptian authorities' frequent closure of the Rafah crossing, the only outlet Gaza has to the outside world, has hindered the movement of Palestinians since the regime of Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi took power in a coup in Egypt 2013.