Father and child killed in accident near Airport Road underpass

Abu Dhabi: A father and a two-year-old child were killed in an accident early on Saturday when their car fell into a pedestrian underpass.

Barkat Ali, 29, a Pakistani, and his daughter Zainab Haider Ali, who was two years and four months old, died in the accident while returning from a trip to Al Ain.

The accident occurred at about 2.15am near the underpass on the Airport Road.

A police officer said the man was talking on his cell phone and while switching it off he lost control of the vehicle. The car, which was travelling at a high speed, swerved off the road, hit the pedestrian underpass barrier and plunged down the stairs.

"The child died on the spot and the father died after arriving at the hospital," the officer said.

It is believed that the mother of the child and a sibling were in another car.

"When we reached the scene the mother and the sibling were at the accident spot ... no details could be confirmed ... because the mother was completely shaken by the accident."

She was mumbling about playing with her daughter while she carried her other child into the ambulance, said the officer.