Crane falls and blocks traffic on Al Khail Road

Dubai: A crane which tried to lift a gantry of a signboard that had fallen on a busy road in the early hours of the morning, itself keeled over and fell on the street holding up traffic to Jebel Ali and Abu Dhabi, police said.

The four lanes of Al Khail Road had to be closed at around 4 am and a crisis management team from the Road and Transport Authority (RTA) rushed to the spot to access the situation.

Investigations are going on how such a thing could have occurred, but it seems that the operator of the crane had misjudged the weight of the gantry.

One lane of the road was opened later. "Traffic was diverted through Umm Suqueim," Hussain Al Banna, director of traffic department and head of operations in the RTA, told Gulf News. "The traffic light change was adjusted to handle the overload," he said.

The crane was so badly damaged that another crane, a 150-tonne one this time, was deployed to pick up the first crane.

Five hours later, by 9 am, things returned to normal and the road was opened to traffic.

"It was a great coordinated effort, with the police and concerned departments," said Al Banna.