Saudi crash: Abu Dhabi-based driver of 25 years among dead

Family began to fear Shirhatti's death after his phone went unanswered

- BY LEKSHMY PAVITHRAN

A man from Karnataka, who had been working in the UAE, was among the 45 Indian pilgrims killed in a devastating bus accident near Madina, Saudi Arabia.

Abdul Ghani Shirhatti had worked as a driver in Abu Dhabi for 25 years, his younger brother, Faruque Shirhatti, said on Monday evening.

Shirahatti, who was employed as a hotel driver in Abu Dhabi, was travelling with friends from Hyderabad from Makkah to Madinah for Umrah.

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Faruque told ANI that his elder brother had left for Saudi Arabia on November 9 to perform the pilgrimage.