Muscat: A head-on collision between two vehicles in Ibri, about 270 kilometres north-west of Muscat, killed one person and injured six, according to a post by the Public Authority for Civil Defence and Ambulance on their official Facebook page on Saturday.
“An Omani died on the spot while three seriously injured persons were admitted to a nearby hospital,” the post said. Three others with minor injuries were sent home after treatment. No further details were available. According to a recent report by the World Health Organisation (WHO), Oman has the highest death rate from road accidents in the GCC and third highest in the Eastern Mediterranean region. However, strict measures, including increased patrolling, have helped bring down fatal road accidents in Oman in the first three months of this year. Brigadier Mohammad Bin Awadh Al Rawas, Director General of Traffic with the Royal Oman Police (ROP), during an interaction with media recently, had revealed that the death rate due to traffic accidents had come down by 15 per cent. The Traffic Department statistics show that in the first two and a half months of this year 145 people died due to road accidents in the country compared to 170 deaths during the same period last year. The Traffic Police in Oman have installed more state-of-the-art cameras to catch those speeding as well as those who violate traffic light regulations by jumping red. The penalties for traffic offenders has also been increased substantially from stiff financial penalties to jail term to deter traffic offenders and bring down the fatalities on the roads of Oman.
