Dubai: Doctors treating the four victims in the accident that took place at Dubai International Airport's concourse 3, said that two of them, who suffered 90 per cent burns, remain critical. One of the other workers is out of danger and the fourth is stable.
The workers were conducting a routine test of some electrical equipment when tragedy struck.
Abdul Samad Fajr Allah, 26, an electrical engineer from India, and Dev Bahadur, 33, a technician from Nepal, are battling for life.
Habib Rahman, a substation supervisor, is out of danger while Ramesh Natrajan is still not out of danger, but is stable.
Gulf News visited Rahman in hospital and found that the dressing had been removed from his face, but he is unable to speak.
A member of the specialist doctors team that is handling the case said though the two critical victims have overcome the crucial 72 hours, chances of their survival are marginal.
"Only in four to five instances out of 100 such cases, victims survive and in my career spanning 12 years, I have not seen any of them survive beyond a few months. It will be miraculous if they do," a member of the team told Gulf News on condition of anonymity.
However, he added that the condition of their hearts are stable and the organs are trying to support the body. "But the wounds are too deep, with most of the skin burnt and tissues and nerves are also mostly damaged. Even if both of them survive, restoring the damaged parts of the body would be a humungous task," he added.
According to another source, none of the victims received an electric shock. The doctor confirmed this: "Their heart condition suggests that they were not hit by electric current. If that happens, the first thing to be affected is the heart, which is stable in this case. The severity of wounds suggests that they were hit by an extreme temperature flare."
Industry experts suggest that Fajr Allah, the electrical engineer, was too young and inexperienced to handle the critical testing process.
"The testing of Ring Main Unit (RMU), which exploded, is generally done by the project manager with the experience of at least 10-12 years behind him. Considering his age, this person looks to be fairly new and most probably he was not adept at handling the task but might have accepted it under pressure from his seniors," Mohammad Mousa, an electrical engineer with work experience of more than 15 years, said.
According to sources at ETA Ascon, Fajr Allah was only a junior engineer at ETA's power control and switchgear division.
When contacted, an official from ETA said that the case is under investigation by Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and that the company is trying to provide whatever help they can to the victims.
