Abu Dhabi: For seven years, Khalid Saleh Al Beloushi has driven up and down the Abu Dhabi-Dubai highway without being involved in an accident. But that changed last Saturday morning within what felt like a split second.
"I was heading to Dubai after work, but the fog was terrible and it was impossible to see anything. I was driving carefully at only a 100 kilometres per hour, yet I couldn't stop when I saw the car appear out of the blue ahead of me," Al Beloushi, 32, an Emirati civil defence officer, told Gulf News on Sunday.
Before he knew it, Al Beloushi's car had crashed into the pile of wreckage ahead of him, leaving the father-of-two with a chest bruise and a fractured left leg.
"I crawled out of my car and tried to walk, but was in too much pain and unable to support myself. Thankfully, two of my friends were with me and since they were not hurt too badly, they helped me move away from the wreckage. But I still remember the awful thump-thump sound of other vehicles crashing into mine," Al Beloushi said of the moments after the crash.
An ambulance later took him to Al Rahba Hospital, where he is currently being treated.
"I thank God that nothing serious happened to me, and that I was able to get out of the car.
"If I'd been trapped inside my car, I might have received serious burns or worse injuries," he said.
Al Beloushi is one of the victims of Saturday's massive traffic pile-up, 18 of whom are still receiving general, orthopaedic and neurological treatment and surgical care at the hospital. Thirty-four were discharged yesterday.
Aqbah Mohammad Mubarak, 22, another Emirati who is in the hospital, described how he had feared for his life when he saw the car in front of him.
‘Afraid I would die'
"I suddenly saw a line of cars that had crashed into one another, so I veered away from it. Instead, I crashed into another car on the side, and in that moment, I was afraid I would die," Mubarak said.
"I couldn't feel anything after the collision, but when I tried to walk away, my legs weakened and I couldn't move," he added.
Both men urged motorists to be more careful when driving on the highway.
