Sharjah: A bus carrying Umrah pilgrims hit a road barrier, overturned and skidded for a few metres on Al Wahda Road in Sharjah Thursday morning, injuring 20 passengers.
The bus was on its way to Abu Dhabi and was carrying 45 pilgrims when the accident happened near the City Centre.
Lieutenant Colonel Ahmad Bin Darwish, Head of Anjad patrol at Sharjah Police, told Gulf News that the accident occurred at 11.45am when the 45-seater bus crashed on its side.
“The bus belonged to Al Ghazal Transport and was taking its passengers to Abu Dhabi. From there, the passengers were then supposed to ride another bus that would take them to Saudi Arabia so they could perform Umrah,” said Lt. Col. Bin Darwish.
Traffic was at a standstill as ambulances and Anjad patrols blocked the road to traffic in order to remove the bus from the road. Twenty passengers who suffered from minor injuries were then transferred to Kuwait Hospital for first aid.
“It took us nearly one hour to remove the bus and restore the flow of traffic, which was our priority because we did not want school children or residents coming home from work to get stuck in traffic,” said Col. Lt. Bin Dariwsh.
He then pointed out that the accident was caused by excessive speeding.
The bus driver passed King Faisal Bridge and when he tried to take a right turn towards Al Wahda Road, lost control of the steering wheel and crashed into the metal road barrier.
