Muscat: The long Eid break proved deadly in Oman as 56 people have died in road accidents in the past ten days, according to the Royal Oman Police (ROP) traffic department website.
August 15 was the last working day for government department employees and from that day to last Friday, the last day of the Eid Al Fitr holidays, 55 people lost their lives due to road accidents. The toll went up to 56 with the death of an infant who had been critical in hospital after an accident in Thumrait.
All roads in Oman literally led to Salalah and the dark passage of the last 300-400km road after Adam in the central region proved to be deadliest. According to ROP statistics, 19 people died between Adam and Haima in the central region of the country in the last ten days, including ten in one head-on collision last Wednesday close to Haima.
“There are no lights on the highway for a very long stretch of highway and vehicles speed over 150km per hour,” Ronak Ashar, a Gulf News reader, who took some of the accident pictures, said.
Eight people, three in one accident in Thumrait, were killed in Dhofar, which saw about 94,713 people visit the region in the past week.
In another horrific accident in Bidiya, two vehicles collided at high speed, killing five people as one of the cars caught fire due to the high-speed impact.
Traffic related deaths were also recorded from other regions.
The ROP has advised motorists to drive carefully and follow traffic regulations and adhere to the speed limit to avoid fatal crashes.
