Fire engulfs new rail station in Saudi Arabia
September 29, 2019
A massive fire on Sunday ripped through a new high-speed train station leaving at least five people injured in Saudi Arabia's coastal city of Jeddah.
Videos posted on social media showed black plumes of smoke billowing out of the Haramain train station and helicopters flying over the scene. Online videos showed nearly a dozen people on the roof of the structure.
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The fire department is currently fighting the blaze with air support, and has brought many sections of the blaze under control. Those injured have been taken to hospital, according to the official Twitter account of the Mecca region.
It stated that 16 medical teams were working at the scene and had treated another four injured at the site.
There was no immediate known cause of the fire.
The €6.7 billion ($7.3 billion) Haramain Railway was inaugurated last September to connect the Muslim holy cities of Mecca and Medina with the Red Sea city of Jeddah with electric trains traveling up to 300 kilometers per hour (186 miles per hour).
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Officials described the 450-kilometer (280-mile) line as one of the most important transportation expansion projects in the kingdom's rail network and the biggest electric speed train project in the Middle East.
The project aligns with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's Vision 2030 reform program aimed at weaning the economy off oil dependence and creating jobs for the country's young population.
kmm, cw/jlw (AFP, Reuters)