UAE | Traffic and Transport

Shocked families mourn victims

A three-year-old girl who had been waiting for March 20 to see her father now must be told that it will never happen.

  • By Binsal Abdul Kader, Staff Reporter
  • Published: 10:24 March 13, 2008
  • Gulf News

  • Mohammad Salib Khan, a Pakistani bus driver who died in the Ghantoot pile-up.
  • Image Credit: Supplied Picture
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Abu Dhabi: A three-year-old girl who had been waiting for March 20 to see her father now must be told that it will never happen.

Mohammad Salib Khan, 29, a Pakistani bus driver, was killed in Tuesday's horrific pile-up in Ghantoot. He was ferrying labourers from Musaffah to Jebel Ali in Dubai when the crash occurred.

His distraught father, Sahib Nawaz Khan, 57, who has been in the UAE for 35 years and driving heavy vehicles for 30 of those years, told Gulf News yesterday that his son was not a reckless driver.

"I will not blame rash driving or the weather for the crash. God gave me my son. This is my destiny. I have not informed anyone about his death because the family is eagerly anticipating his return.

"My younger son and I will accompany the body home. This was not the way it was meant to be. I can't imagine what will happen when his mother, sister and wife see his body."

Khan said Mohammad had booked a ticket to go back to Pakistan to visit his family near Peshawar.

"He had not seen his daughter Alina for two years. The last time he saw her was when she was one. He was longing to go home because my granddaughter has started speaking. He has only one child. Mohammad had done his shopping and even borrowed money from me to spend."

Mohammad had lived in the UAE for 10 years and had visited his family in Pakistan only once after he got married four years ago.

"I don't have words to describe my grief," said Mohammad's younger brother, Sorab Khan, who lives in Musaffah with his father.

Zaheedullah Khan, Mohammad's friend and roommate, said he was a jovial person and very popular with the Pakistani community in Musaffah.

"The large number of people who have gathered today to pay condolences is testimony to how popular Mohammad was. He will be deeply missed. He was such a safe driver. I cannot believe that this has happened to him."

The Pakistani Embassy has said they will fly the body free of charge on Pakistan International Airlines. Tickets for Mohammad's father and brother will also be paid, said Dr Shehzad Thaheem, Community Welfare Attaché at the embassy.

A Sudanese family was also grieving yesterday. Abdul Monem, 55, an engineer, was killed in the crash, said his brother-in-law, Eisam Al Terefi.

Distraught family members were praying outside the Central Hospital.

Al Terefi said: "We are too shocked to speak. All the paperwork has been completed. We will bury him here."

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