Fire strikes Saudi high-speed train station

A fire broke out in the Haramain high-speed rail station in Saudi Arabia’s coastal city of Jeddah, injuring at least five people, the authorities said yesterday. Plumes of black smoke were still rising from the roof of the station at least four hours after the fire broke out at 12.35 p.m. (0935 GMT), Al-Ekhbariya state television footage showed. It said civil defence were fighting the fire with air support and many sections of the blaze were under control.

A video uploaded on Twitter by the Mecca provincial government showed plumes of grey smoke rising from what looked like the inside of the complex. Five people were transported to hospital with injuries, the official Twitter account of Mecca region reported. It said 16 medical teams were working at the scene. “Five injured people were transferred to the hospital due to the fire in the Haramain highspeed rail station in Jeddah. 16 medical teams are working on the site of the fire,” the Mecca region official Twitter account tweeted.

Al-Ekhbariya said four people were treated on site and traffic on the railway line had been suspended until further notice for safety reasons. The 450-km (280-mile) Haramain Railway linking the two holiest cities in Islam, Mecca and Medina, with the Red Sea city of Jeddah, was opened in 2018 and cost 6.7 billion euros (£5.96 billion). The system is capable of transporting passengers 450 kilometres (280 miles) via the Red Sea port of Jeddah at speeds of up to 300 kilometres per hour. The station is part of efforts to boost tourism revenue as the country seeks to shed its dependence on oil exports.

Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz inaugurated the railway in September 2018. Officials described it as the biggest transportation project in the region. In 2011, the kingdom signed a deal for a Spanish consortium to build the rail track, supply 35 high-speed trains and handle a 12-year maintenance contract.

The kingdom is boosting its infrastructure spending and expanding its railways -- including a $22.5 billion metro system under construction in the capital Riyadh -- as it seeks to diversify its oil-dependent economy. The operator of the Haramain Railway said it suspended the train service until further notice for the safety of passengers.