UAE | Traffic and Transport
Eyewitness accounts of UAE road crash
"I have not seen so many people injured on the road in the UAE. This is nothing short of a disaster," said Suresh Mohandas, a motorist who escaped with a bruised knee.
- By Sunita Menon, Staff Reporter
- Published: 13:58 March 11, 2008
Dubai: “I have not seen so many people injured on the road in the UAE. This is nothing short of a disaster," said Suresh Mohandas, a motorist who escaped with a bruised knee.
It was quite chaotic because of the thick blanket of fog. But then as things started to the in clear the scene that hit my eye was shocking. The injured were lying everywhere. There were cars in flames''.
Shaleela Salem, another eye witness who had a close escape said: “I was one of the eye witnesses of the entire accident. I was on the fast track when I saw a person within 50m distance waving his hands to stop me or slow me down. I did not exactly get his message across.
"Less than 50m ahead, I could see a whole load of cars hit together and still being hit from behind by other drivers who could not apply brakes on time. Since I had no option, I took an immediate right turn to avoid hitting the herd of cars ahead.
"In a moments flash, I turned my steering without even turning to look if there were any cars towards my right. To my luck and Gods grace, my right track was clear at that moment of time and I applied hard brake and stopped on the extreme right side.
"It was a horrible site on my right to see cars continuously speeding and bashing the cars. Due to the fog, my visibility was much restricted. There were people and labourers on the road.''
Tim Anderson a British national who was stranded for more than two hours in the traffic said the scene of the carnage was straight from a Hollywood movie.
He said: “I have never seen anything like this. The fog was really thick and there were people speeding. It was really crazy. There were plenty of motorists who were driving with their hazard lights on.
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"It took awhile for the helicopters to arrive on the seen but then again you can't blame them because the weather conditions were not favorable for them. But the paramedics were on the job straight away.''
Rachael Johnson, an Australian motorist who was at the accident scene said: “There were some buses that were involved in the accident and I am just glad to see that the buses did not overturn.
"What really got be irritated was when I saw some of the motorists busy clicking away pictures on their mobile phone instead of helping the injured. Some of the motorists who were stranded in the traffic were seen offering water to those who were injured.''
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