UAE | Traffic and Transport

2 killed, 15 wounded in horrific accident on Emirates road

Two persons were killed and 15 others sustained injuries in a horrific accident involving another minibus on Emirates Road on Wednesday evening

  • By Alia Al Theeb, Staff Reporter
  • Published: 00:31 July 17, 2008
  • Gulf News

Dubai: Two persons were killed and 15 others sustained injuries in a horrific accident involving another minibus on Emirates Road on Wednesday evening.

This is the second accident involving a minibus in less than a week. Five people were killed and four others had sustained injuries in an earlier accident on Sunday after the minibus swerved, hit the pavement in the middle of the road, flew to the opposite side of the road and had a head-on collision with another car.

In yesterday's accident, a Bangladeshi man was killed, while 15 others including the driver sustained injuries.

The accident took place at 5:40pm on Emirates Road after the bridge located opposite the vegetables market.

Salah Bu Farousha, Head of Dubai Traffic PublicProsecution, said the minibus was overloaded with passengers, as there were 15 passengers inside the bus, while there should be only 14 passengers.

He said the minibus was coming from Jebel Ali going toward Sharjah. As a result of excessive speeding and losing control, the bus swerved to the distance of 25.7 meters from the second right lane. The minibus then hit the concrete barrier in the middle of the road, jumped to the opposite side of the road for 38 meters, turned over and fell on the fast lane.

Two people including the Pakistani driver sustained serious injuries, while 12 others sustained moderate to minor injuries. There were eight Bangladeshi, five Indians and two unidentified passengers.

Bu Farousha said the Traffic Public Prosecution has asked for the radar picture of the bus to determine its speed, as it was speeding excessively. He said the minibus had the accident after the radar?s location by 10 meters. The prosecution had also asked for test of the minibus?s brakes.

He said the driver is under custody and his blood sample will be taken for test.

Bu Farousha reiterated his call for companies owning and renting minibuses to supervise them thoroughly and educate their drivers on the importance of abiding by speed limits.

He said police must intensify their campaigns against reckless minibus drivers, and increase police patrols especially on Emirates Road, Shaikh Zayed Road and Al Khail Road.

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