Road-rolling machine crushes construction worker

A construction worker was crushed to death under a 30-tonne road rolling machine yesterday morning.
Mohammed Abdul Aziz Khan, 45, was working on a new road near Emirates Towers when he was run over by the machine while taking a drink of water.
The married father of three suffered severe chest and stomach injuries and died on the spot.
The foreman, who refused to give his name, said Khan was standing with his back to the rolling machine which was flattening a 1.5-kilometre stretch of new road when the incident occurred at 9.30am.
"The driver didn't see him as he was standing behind the vehicle," the foreman said. "He realised he had hit something as he reversed, so he stopped and drove forward again."
The driver ran to the foreman 300 metres away to tell him and he rushed to the scene.
"Mohammed was lying face down on the ground with severe injuries down part of his body. We called the police and an ambulance but he was already dead."
The foreman said Khan had been fixing kerb stones when he stopped work to get a drink of water.
Fellow worker Mohammed Saleem said, "Mohammed was drinking water from a thermos with his back to the rolling machine when he was struck. He obviously didn't see it coming.
"We didn't hear any shouts and the first thing we knew about it was when we saw the foreman running down to where it happened."
The foreman said Khan had worked for the Al Nabooda Co for two years.
"He was very efficient and hard-working," he said. "He shouldn't have been there. It's a terrible tragedy."
The rolling machine is used to pack the ground solid before asphalting. Each metre-and-a-half wide strip is rolled for 90 minutes.
Police are questioning the 28-year-old driver of the rolling machine. No one from Al Nabooda was available for comment yesterday.