Six family members died in a traffic accident on Friday while returning from Riyadh to Jizan after spending the school holidays in Riyadh.

Family members include a husband, wife, and four children. The cause of the accident is yet to be determined, but it is believed to have been caused by speeding or driver’s error.

The Director of Laws and Regulations at the Medina Traffic Department, Colonel Dr. Zuhair bin Abdul Rahman Sharaf, described traffic accidents as 'street terrorism, no less dangerous than organised crime'.

According to Al Arabiya, Saudi Arabia ranks first in the world in road accidents with 17 deaths a day, or one death every 40 minutes.

Annually, more than 68,000 people have been injured, and more than SR13 billion in material losses have been sustained.

In addition, Colonel Sharaf revealed that, in the past two decades, there have been 86,000 accident victims in Saudi Arabia, more than the total number of war victims combined. He emphasized that the number of road accident victims is on the rise.

The remarks were made by Sharaf during the 29th Gulf Traffic Week lecture he delivered at the Islamic University.