Five injured in fire at high-speed train station

RIYADH: Five people were injured in a fire that broke out at a new high-speed train station in Saudi Arabia´s western city of Jeddah on Sunday, state television reported, with huge palls of smoke seen rising into the air.

The station serves the main Haramain High Speed Rail system. The route opened to the public in October last year, transporting passengers between Makkah and Madina. “Five people who sustained minor injuries because of the fire were transported to hospital,” Al-Ekhbariya state television reported. The General Directorate of Saudi Civil Defence said in an earlier tweet that it was working to extinguish the fire. A video uploaded on Twitter by the Makkah provincial government showed plumes of grey smoke rising from what looked like the inside of the complex.

An AFP correspondent said security forces closed the main road linking Makkah and Jeddah and cordoned off the site.