Dubai: One person was killed and 10 others injured when a vehicle rammed into a minibus carrying workers on Al Wasl Road on Monday evening, police said.
Brigadier Saif Muhair Al Mazroui, Director of Traffic Department in Dubai Police, told Gulf News that the accident happened at around 5pm on Al Wasl Road, when a female driver in a four-wheel-drive vehicle entered the main road and hit the minibus.
“One person died on the way to hospital. Three suffered serious injuries, four sustained moderate injuries while three others escaped with minor injuries. All the victims were travelling in the minibus,” Brigadier Al Mazroui said.
Police patrols managed the traffic jam due to the accident and created a path for ambulances to transfer the injured to Rashid Hospital for treatment.
“The female driver made a mistake when she entered the main road without paying attention to the minibus coming on the right lane of the road. She didn’t check if the road was empty before entering the main road,” Brigadier Al Mazroui added.
Dubai Police said the minibus was carrying 14 passengers.
The accident came one week after Federal Traffic Council recommended that Interior Ministry allow registration of such vehicles only to transport goods. The council is seeking a ban on passengers in minibuses by January 2018.
Major General Mohammad Saif Al Zafein, Assistant Chief for Operations Affairs at Dubai Police, and Director of Federal Traffic Council, said that the council had issued a recommendation to stop renewing registration of minibuses for passenger transportation and only allow them to transport goods.
“We want to ban minibuses from transporting passengers. We have sent a recommendation to the Ministry of Interior to ban minibuses and hopefully the suggestion will be law by January 2018,” General Al Zafein said earlier.
He said minibuses would be registered only if they are used for other purposes, such as transporting goods.
Ten people were killed and 152 injured in 79 traffic accidents caused by minibuses last year, according to Dubai Police.
