Dubai: An 18-month-old Indian girl died after being knocked down accidentally by her father while he was reversing his car in Dubai on Friday.
The accident took place while the father, Abid from the south Indian state of Kerala, was taking his four-wheel-drive vehicle out of the parking space in a villa near Century Mall in Hor Al Anz, according to a relative.
Abid’s parents and three brothers’ families also live in the same villa. Apparently, his daughter, Sama, was playing with her cousins in the play area of the compound and ran to her father when she saw he was leaving.
However, Abid could not see the child, who came from the side and she was knocked down. Though she was rushed to a hospital, the child did not survive, the relative said.
Since all the family members, including her grandparents, live here, Sama was buried in the Al Quoz graveyard on Saturday morning.
More than half a dozen children have died after being run over by vehicles driven by their family members in the premises of their homes in the past five years in the UAE. Police have repeatedly urged parents and others to be extra careful while driving when children are around.
Brigadier Saif Muhair Al Mazroui, director of Dubai Traffic Police, said the incident was reported at 1pm on Friday.
“The father hit his daughter when he was reversing his car in Hor Al Anz. He didn’t see that she was behind the car,” he said, adding
that the father rushed his daughter to the hospital, but she died on arrival.
“This isn’t the first incident of its kind. Earlier this year an Emirati man ran over his daughter in Al Quoz area. She also died. Another Indian father also ran his daughter over when he was reversing out of a parking spot in one of the malls.”
He said people should be careful and make sure there is no one behind them when reversing in all cases, not only in homes.
