Al Ain: His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, visited the bereaved Al Kaabi family yesterday(Wednesday) in Al Ain to offer his condolences.
He was accompanied by Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, and Shaikh Hazza Bin Tahnoun Al Nahyan.
Shaikh Mohammad expressed his deep sympathies to the family and prayed for the departed souls to rest in peace.
The Al Kaabi family has shown great fortitude as condolences continued to pour in two days after the horrific accident which took place near Salalah in Oman.
Monday’s tragic accident happened when a trailer rammed into the four wheel drive vehicle the family was travelling in on their way to Salalah.
The child of an Omani police officer and an Omani woman also lost their lives.
The Al Kaabi family, who lost seven members in the accident including a father, retired army general Saif Abdullah Al Kaabi, 57, and his six children, thanked Shaikh Mohammad and President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan for their generous support.
Shaikh Mohammad arrived around 9am and spent half an hour to 40 minutes speaking with the family at a majlis, set up in a tent, near the family’s new home in Al Foah on the outskirts of Al Ain.
Speaking to Gulf News after the visit, Saif’s son Humaid, who survived the horror crash in Oman that claimed the lives of his father and six siblings, described the moment he watched them lose their lives.
Recalling the heart-rending moment, Saif’s son Humaid, who was driving another vehicle in front of the fateful Toyota Landcrusier, said they all died in front of his eyes, as he looked on helpless from around 20 metres away.
Humaid said: “I was in another car with my younger brother Abdullah and my brother-in-law Musabbeh Al Kaabi.
“They were following us in another car. When I crossed the intersection, I saw a trailer coming fast from the hill and it was flashing the lights, so I turned around to see why he was flashing, that is when it hit my father’s car,” said Humaid, describing the tragic moment.
As he turned around, he said, he saw bodies and parts of the car flying around.
“We just got out of our car and ran, but everyone except my brother Mohammad and my mother had already passed away.
“The impact of the accident had sent all of them flying out of the car except Mohammad who was stuck and he was breathing, but his neck was broken and blood was pouring out from his body.
“We tried to make him read Shahdah but within moments he breathed his last,” added Humaid, recollecting the horrific moments stoically.
Ambulances then arrived to take his family away.
Now Humaid is trying to come to terms with what has happened, and says he is drawing strength from his brother Abdullah, 17.
He said: “The images from that day keep coming back to me, it is very disturbing and obviously very difficult to forget.
“We will try to come through this as a family, my brother Abdullah is strong and I am getting courage from him.”
And Humaid told Gulf News how 10 minutes before the crash, he and his entire family stopped their cars at a mosque and went for prayers together and visited a fountain at a park nearby where they took pictures, ate lunch together and enjoyed what would be their last moments together.
Humaid said: “That time was such a lovely time with my family, no one could imagine such a thing would happen.”
Meanwhile, Humaid’s mother has shown signs of improvement.
Mariam Gareeb Rashid Al Kaabi has been transferred from Sultan Qaboos Hospital in Oman to Shaikh Khalifa Hospital in Abu Dhabi where she is in intensive care and her condition is improving.
Humaid told Gulf News his mother sustained serious injuries to her head and waist in the accident.
She is unconscious because of medication doctors have given her, as they monitor her condition before deciding whether to operate next week.
Mariam was transferred from Sultan Qaboos Hospital on Tuesday by special plane equipped with medical facilities, by a special order from Shaikh Khalifa.
Her sons Ahmad Al Kaabi, 8, Mohammad Al Kaabi, 25, and four daughters Afra, 27, Hamda, 24, Fatima, 18 and Sara, 14, lost their lives in the deadly crash.
The children and their father were laid to rest yesterday in Al Ain where thousands of mourners turned out to pay their respects.
