Dubai: Three men have been accused of indulging in a group knife attack and assaulting three holidaymakers in a street following a heated argument in a supermarket in October 2014.

One of the Saudi holidaymakers was said to have gone to the supermarket in Al Rigga Street to purchase some goods where he was assaulted by the three men, two Emiratis and one from Comoros Islands after a heated argument.

The trio was also said to have assaulted the Saudi man with a knife, according to records, but he ran away and returned to his hotel room.

When he reached his hotel room bloodied from head to toe, he told his brother and their friend about the incident in the supermarket and the assault thereafter. After this the two Saudi brothers and their friend went down, they spotted the assailants across the street carrying knives, said records.

The three assailants crossed the street and attacked the Saudis violently. One of the Saudis grabbed a plastic street cone to fend off the attackers. Pedestrians and onlookers also intervened to stop the assailants while the hotel staff informed police about the attack.

Shortly after that police arrived there and arrested two of the bloodied assailants who were trying to flee from the scene in a car. The third man was arrested later and the trio was referred to the Public Prosecution.

During the time when the case was still being investigated by prosecutors, one of the Emirati assailant passed away.

Prosecutors then accused the 26-year-old Emirati and the 33-year-old man, from Comoros Islands, of assaulting the three Saudis with sharp tools and causing one of them a 15 per cent permanent disability in his left arm.

The 26-year-old Emirati failed to appear before the Dubai Court of First Instance where he was scheduled to enter his plea on Monday.

Meanwhile the 33-year-old suspect, who is in custody, pleaded not guilty and told presiding judge Urfan Omar: “I was not involved in the attack. The Emirati suspect, who had died was the one who stabbed the Saudis.”

One of the Saudi brothers told prosecutors that he was hit in his head with a metal object in the supermarket by one of the suspects.

“I do not know why he pushed me … but when I turned around and asked him, he hurled a metal object on my head. I returned to my hotel room because I got injured,” he told prosecutors.

Records said the three Saudis went down to check out why the suspects had assaulted one of them for no reason before the suspects attacked them with knives.

A policeman told prosecutors that the suspects seemed to be under the influence of drugs when they when apprehended them near the hotel.

A ruling in the case will be announced on June 19.