Speeding leaves a trail of death

Dubai: Nine people died and more than 50 people were injured in a horrific traffic accident on Shaikh Zayed Road yesterday morning, the police said.

The police said the driver of a bus with a capacity of 50 passengers was speeding on the extreme left lane, coming from Jebel Ali. As a result of speeding, he lost control, hit a bus that was on the next lane, turned over and slid.

The bus continued sliding on the wet road until it hit the barrier and landed on the opposite side of the road.

A minibus with a capacity of 14 passengers, that was on the opposite side of the road, crashed into the bus and its driver was killed on the spot. Six people were killed on the spot, while three died at the hospital.

The accident took place at 6:30am and caused a long traffic tailback on both sides of Shaikh Zayed Road.

Police patrols, Dubai Police helicopters, rescue and difficult missions' teams and ambulances rushed to the scene of the accident.

Khalifa Hassan Bin Darrai, Executive Manager of the Unified Ambulance Centre, said 15 ambulances took the victims to hospitals and the first unit arrived at the scene six minutes after receiving the accident information.

Ambulances

Colonel Pilot Anas Al Matroushi, Director of Dubai Police's Air Wing Department, said two helicopters helped in transferring four victims whose condition was critical. He said they were called after the roads got jammed and it was getting difficult for ambulances to arrive.

The difficult missions' teams used hydraulic equipment to get the trapped victims out of the bus and the rescue operation took around one hour.

Major Khalid Kinsham, Head of Dubai Police's Accident Analysis Section, said he had never come across such a large number of deaths in one accident since he joined the police in 1998.

The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) said 95 injuries were reported so far. Engineer Maitha Obaid Bin Udai, Executive Director of the Roads and Traffic Agency at the RTA, said the Intelligent Traffic systems (ITS) which have become operational recently on Dubai roads are playing an important role in warning drivers about changing weather and accidents.

Engineer Khalfan Al Berwani, the Manager of Traffic Safety at the Traffic Department, said accidents that took place from 2003 to 2005 during rainy days led to 40 injuries.

Rain accidents

Dubai Police's Operations Room reported 77 accidents from Wednesday evening until yesterday morning with minor to moderate injuries.

Most of them were results of speeding and not leaving enough space between vehicles despite the low visibility.

Police called on motorists to drive carefully and reduce speed in the changing weather.

Driver got licence 11 months ago

Police said the bus driver who is responsible for the accident got his driving licence only 11 months ago.

Major Khalid Kinsham, Head of Dubai Police's Accident Analysis Section, said the driver's licence has been issued in January, 2006. The driver is currently in police custody.

Witnesses said the driver, who was speeding, lost control and hit another bus.

The speeding bus flipped, crashed into the barrier and landed on the opposite carriageway. A minibus heading towards Jebel Ali was caught by surprise, could not stop in time and crashed into the fallen bus. The cries of the survivors was horrific, a motorist said.

Meanwhile, the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), said December witnessed a huge increase in the number of traffic deaths, as it reached 25 compared to last month which reported 19 deaths.

Thursday's count