'I have never felt so desperate'

Dubai: There was blood everywhere and screaming inside the bus after it overturned. A fellow worker fell unconscious on me. His mouth was dripping blood. It was a horrifying experience, with all of us heaped on top of each other inside, said Laxman, one of the many survivors yesterday.

Speaking to Gulf News from Rashid Hospital he said the bus they were travelling in was speeding.

"I, along with some other workers, did ask the driver to slow down a bit but he just did not heed our advice... When the bus swirled into the road divider before hitting an oncoming van I just went numb. I went completely blank."

"A few motorists pitched in to help those who were injured. I remember someone thrusting a water bottle into my hands. It really helped," said Mariputtu, an Indian.

Shanmugham, another survivor, said most of the workers inside the bus were Asian and a few were Chinese.

"When the bus overturned we were all thrown on top of each other. There were screams from injured men. It was really deafening. The most horrifying feeling was when we were all desperately trying to get out of the bus. I have never felt so desperate before in all my life," he said.

"I just want to go home and not work for the company anymore. What if I had died," said Murugan, an Indian.

According to him all the workers inside the bus were daily wage earners.

"We earned Dh25 per hour and did not have health cards. A worker who was lying next to me had blood oozing from his head."