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Sixteen die in Saudi road crash

Sixteen migrant workers have died in a road accident in Saudi Arabia after the bus that was carrying them collided with a car.

The bus hit a sports utility vehicle on a desert highway near Abqaiq in the Eastern Province on Thursday night.

Eleven of the dead are Bangladeshi, three are Pakistani and two are Indian. 16 others were injured.

Approximately 7 million of Saudi Arabia's 24 million population are foreign residents, mostly blue-collar workers.

Motorists frequently exceed 120km/h speed limits on the desert highway linking Riyadh and the Gulf coast, which has many sections that are unlit and badly surfaced.