PARIS, (AP)- A French teenager has died from injuries he suffered when gunmen fired on his car in the Saudi desert, bringing the death toll in the attack to four, France’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.
The group was attacked Monday on the side of a road leading to the holy city of Medina in an area restricted to Muslims only.
All four victims were French. Two were expatriate employees of the electrical equipment manufacturer Schneider Electric, and one was a teacher in a French school there, the Foreign Ministry said. Their identities were not immediately released.
Saudi Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Turki said Monday that it was too early to determine whether the attacks were terror-related. Saudi Arabia has been waging an intense campaign against al-Qaeda militants since a wave of suicide attacks on foreigners in the kingdom in 2003.
The men were resting on the side of a road about 10 miles north of Medina when gunmen fired at their car, instantly killing two of them, al-Turki said. The other two died later in a hospital. Women and children also were with the group but they were uninjured, the Interior Ministry spokesman said.
The area the group was traveling in is restricted to Muslims only. Non-Muslims are barred from the area around Medina and neighboring Mecca, the holiest cities in Islam. It was unclear what the victims’ religions were.