Three people were tragically killed and four others sustained serious to medium injuries in a road crash in Taif, western Saudi Arabia. The collision, which involved two cars, occurred on Thursday at sunset, during iftar, the time when Muslims break their day-long fast during the holy month of Ramadan. The incident is believed to have been caused by heavy rains in Taif, which has been experiencing inclement weather. The injured individuals were promptly taken to local hospitals for medical treatment.

The Saudi National Centre for Meteorology has issued a forecast for rains in various areas of the kingdom until Sunday, prompting civil defence authorities to urge vigilance and caution during the Muslim Eid Al Fitr feast, which began on Friday in Saudi Arabia.

In recent years, Saudi authorities have been implementing stricter penalties for traffic offences in an effort to reduce road crashes. The annual cost of traffic accidents in Saudi Arabia is estimated to be around SR11.7 billion. According to official figures, there were 9,420 registered accidents within the kingdom's cities and 7,542 outside of them last year, resulting in a total of 4,555 deaths. The report, based on findings by a ministerial committee for traffic safety, also revealed that male drivers were involved in more accidents than female drivers.

This recent incident adds to a series of deadly accidents reported in Saudi media in recent weeks. Just last month, 21 Umrah pilgrims were killed and 29 others injured when their bus overturned in the Asir region in south-western Saudi Arabia. Prior to that, a married couple and their four children lost their lives in a road crash while returning from Riyadh to Jizan in south-western Saudi Arabia after spending the school holiday.