Civil Defense personnel in Al-Ahsa cover the bodies of the accident victims at the crash site.

The Philippine’s Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) confirmed on Thursday that 13 Filipinos were killed in a vehicular accident in Al-Ahsa last Monday.

Arab News first reported the incident based on Saudi Red Crescent report who arrived in the crash site without mentioning the nationality of the fatalities.

The traffic incident occurred 70 km from Al-Hofuf in Al-Ahsa when a minibus with 25 Filipino workers returning to their accommodation collided with a truck at around 5:40 p.m. on Monday.

The Red Crescent said that 11 Filipino workers were killed on the spot while two among 14 injured died later at the hospital.

In his statement, DFA Assistant Secretary Charles Jose, the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh is now communicating with the Filipino workers’ employer for the repatriation of the 13 bodies.

He said an investigation is being conducted ahead of their repatriation. According to media reports, most of the OFWs were working as electricians for Saudi Arabia Kentz, a contracting and engineering company.

Netizens on social networking sites shared images of the crash victims asking if they were Filipinos and asked the Philippine mission to look into the incident.

A response from the Philippine Embassy to an Arab News inquiry on Tuesday indicated that some embassy staff were sent to the accident site but could not confirm at that time if the victims were Filipinos.

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