Truck driver accused of running over Dubai workmate

Dubai: A container-towing truck driver has denied being responsible for the death of his workmate, whose skull was smashed in an accident at Jebel Ali Port.

Prosecutors said the 45-year-old Filipino driver, A.V., was busy reading instructions on a built-in device on the truck’s dashboard and failed to see his 23-year-old Pakistani workmate before he ran him over and killed him.

A.V. pleaded not guilty and denied negligence on his part when he defended himself before the Dubai Misdemeanour Court.

The Filipino defendant said he was sorry for his workmate’s demise and maintained that the 23-year-old O.A. was responsible for his own death.

A.V. claimed that he could not be held responsible for the death because O.A. was not supposed to stand under the trailer that was hooked up to the truck.

According to the accusation sheet, prosecutors said A.V. failed to carry out his work properly and failed to adhere to safety and precautionary measures.

Dubai Police’s forensic doctor said the victim died due to a smshed skull and severe bleeding.

Court reports said the incident happened when A.V. was parked in a trucks’ queue at Jebel Ali Port waiting for instructions to tow containers and load them off vessels on to trucks.

“I received a text message from the control centre on the built-in computer device on the dashboard. The instruction was that I should move to another spot. I switched on the engine and no one was in front of me when I moved the truck. Suddenly I felt that the tires of the trailer [that is hooked up to the truck] moved on something… when I looked down; I realised that it was O.A. I had no clue on how the victim stood there, but I guess he was recording the serial numbers of the containers that were loaded off the vessels. When I started moving the truck, I saw the victim standing beneath another truck. I am not responsible for the accident,” claimed the driver.

The court reconvenes on July 23 to watch the footage of the port’s surveillance cameras.