Dubai: An Angolan driver, who was intoxicated when he ran into a restaurant’s façade, killed three people and injured four others, has been jailed for a month.
The Dubai Traffic Misdemeanour Court jailed the 21-year-old Angolan man, L.N., for a month and fined him Dh20,000 after he was convicted of drink-driving, wrecking the façade and killing three people and injuring others.
The defendant, who entered a guilty plea, was ordered to pay Dh600,000 in blood money to the families of the three victims — an Indian worker and two cooks, a Pakistani and a Nepalese.
The Dubai Traffic Public Prosecution charged L.N. with drink-driving, killing three people, injuring four, consuming liquor, wrecking property and driving with an expired licence.
According to the primary judgement, the defendant was also fined Dh200 for driving with an expired licence.
The civil lawsuit lodged by one of the injured victims has been referred to the Dubai Civil Court.
Prosecution records said the Angolan, who is a salesman, admitted that he was driving under the influence of liquor when he smashed into a restaurant’s façade.
According to records, L.N. had 136 mg/dl of alcohol in his system when he crashed into the restaurant’s facade around 2.40am on July 26 in Al Barsha 3.
Prosecutor said the defendant suddenly lost control over his speeding vehicle, then veered off the right lane of the double-lane road, ran over a pedestrian and crashed into the restaurant.
Surveillance cameras that were fixed at a nearby hotel revealed that the defendant lost control of his car while driving at a very high speed, then veered off the road towards the restaurant. He hit a pavement, then ran over a pedestrian, who was thrown nearly 10 metres, before the speeding car landed in the restaurant.
On-site investigations said L.N. was using a driving licence that had expired over 17 months prior to the accident.
A 21-year-old Brazilian female passenger, who was in the car with the defendant, was also injured.
The primary judgement remains subject to appeal within seven days.
