Abu Dhabi: All six people who perished in the Ruwais accident were Indian workers, an Abu Dhabi police official told Gulf News yesterday.
Those killed were identified yesterday as Raja Reddy Bandhela, 29; Rajesh Kumar Amarnath, 33; Renganathan Sinnan Chetti, 48; Peddi Raju Kollu, 37; Vinod Kumar Dhiman, 39 and Srinu Nagalla, 33.
"Due to the impact of the crash, the bus rolled over before coming to a halt. So most victims sustained head injuries," said the official who asked not to be named.
The accident, which occurred on Monday morning around 5.30am, saw a truck ram into a bus carrying labourers to their place of work. Six people were killed while another 44 were injured. Of the injured workers, 24 sustained medium to severe injuries.
Several of the victims were admitted to hospitals in Gayathi, Ruwais, Madinat Zayed and Mafraq, where they are still recuperating. A few are still in critical condition.
The workers who had sustained minor injuries were discharged shortly after receiving treatment, the police official said.
Preliminary investigations show that the crash occurred when the bus driver entered the main road without checking for other vehicles.
The bus was trying to take a U-turn from Gayathi road to the road that leads to Al Ruwais.
Based on their preliminary findings, police blamed the crash on the bus driver.
The bodies of the deceased are yet to be received by the victims' employers, who are currently cooperating with the Indian Embassy to make the necessary arrangements to transport the bodies home.
The bus belongs to Abu Dhabi-based G.S. Engineering and Construction Company. Two senior officials from the company confirmed that the involvement of their vehicle in the accident but refused to comment further.
Dangerous road
According to the Department of Transport (DoT), the 327km-long Al Mafraq-Al Guwaifat highway is one of the most dangerous roads in the country as it has a high record of road accidents and fatalities.
The highway is the only access route to Al Garbia (the Western Region), the industrial centre of Al Ruwais and several tourist destinations.
