In a tragic incident, 18 members of a family died in a bus-truck collision on Monday near Medina in Saudi Arabia, media reports said. The Hyderabad-based family, including nine children, had gone to the Umrah pilgrimage and were among the 45 victims that died in the road accident.

Telangana Minorities Welfare Minister Mohammed Azharuddin addressed a press conference, sharing key updates on the incident. Condoling the deaths, he said the state government has decided to conduct the funeral of the deceased as per religious traditions in Saudi Arabia and to provide ex-gratia of Rs five lakh each to the kin of those who died.

The Telangana government has also decided to depute a team, led by Mohammad Azharuddin, to Saudi Arabia to coordinate relief efforts.

The team, to be led by Azharuddin,

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