At least 19 Egyptians were killed when a bus carrying 44 Egyptians overturned on the Mecca-Medina road on Saturday, state news agency MENA reported.

The passengers were in Saudi Arabia performing the umrah, a Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca.

Twenty-five were injured and were transported to a number of hospitals in Medina, west of Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi authorities are running fingerprints tests on eight of the victims, whose identities remain anonymous.

Egypt's ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Hesham El-Naqib, told MENA that the consulate in Jeddah is closely monitoring the situation.

The Egyptian presidency assured in an official statement that communication was constant between Egyptian and Saudi authorities following the crash, to ensure that the necessary healthcare is provided to injured pilgrims in Saudi hospitals, and that the necessary measures are put in place for the fast transfer of the bodies of crash victims back home.