Dubai: On the way back to his accommodation in Jebel Ali after night duty early on Tuesday, Jasem Uddin, a kitchen steward at Hotel Atlantis, The Palm, was sleeping in the bus as usual.
What woke him up was the most terrific jolt in his life.
“I couldn’t understand what was going on,” Jasem, a 40-year-old Bangladeshi, said, trying to recollect the Dubai bus crash that killed seven of his colleagues and injured 35 others.
Speaking to Gulf News just before he was discharged from Al Zahra Hospital in Al Barsha on Wednesday, Jasem recounted the tragedy.
“One of my shoes was missing… I felt the bus jerking and found it on the other side of the road… I saw a truck coming head on and in a split second it crashed into the bus.”
The bus carrying around 41 workers of Transguard Group jumped the road divider and hit a truck after a tyre burst before flipping over on its side, Dubai Police said.
The incident took place on Al Yalayis Street between Mohammad Bin Zayed Road and Shaikh Zayed Road.
Jasem does not recollect hearing a tyre burst. What he remembers are the cries after the crash.
“Everyone was screaming and crying. I saw many bleeding and lying on the road… legs and hands strewn all over. I saw that truck driver drenched in blood. I can never forget those scenes,” he said, while his eyes welled up.
Jasem was sitting right behind the bus driver and was trapped inside the bus. “Luckily, the bus didn’t completely turn over. Otherwise, there would have been many more deaths,” he said.
Jasem said the police and rescue team worked hard to extricate those trapped inside the bus using hydraulic cutters. Helicopters and ambulances rushed those with serious injuries to hospital.
Jasem suffered injuries on his back and chest. “I have pain all over my body and the doctor said there is some problem with the lungs. I have been given this device to do breathing exercise,” he said.
He was among at least eight injured men who were discharged from different hospitals, according to information provided by different diplomatic missions.
Indian, Bangladeshi and Nepalese missions, which sent their representatives to hospitals to visit the injured and coordinate the relief and repatriation process, confirmed to Gulf News the identities of the deceased belonging to their nationalities.
As per the information provided by the missions they were Sagar Vannela and Dinesh Giridhar Lal (Indians), Sarwar Mridha and Taher (Bangladeshis) as well as Basudeb Lamichhane and Krishna Prasad Bhusal (Nepalese.)
Gulf News could not ascertain the identity of the Pakistani killed in the crash.
Fathers, newlywed among victims
All the victims were kitchen stewards working at Atlantis on a sub-contract from Transguard, Jasem Uddin said. They included young fathers and at least one newly married man.
“Our duty ends at 7am and the bus picks us at by 7.45am. The accident happened around 8.15am, I think. I can’t thank God enough for saving me for my family. My wife is pregnant. It is my baby’s luck perhaps,” Jasem said.
He said the wife of Taher, one of the deceased, is also expecting. “He has an elder child. He came back after vacation only three months ago and had told us that his wife is pregnant.”
Another victim, Sarwar, had just got married. “He came back just two months back after his wedding. I cannot think of all their families,” Jasim said in a choked voice.
His colleagues at the labour accommodation are also in a state of shock, according to a Transguard employee following up the cases of the injured staff.
“The entire company has been shocked. This is the biggest tragedy in our company’s history. We are doing our best to support all of them,” he said.
In a statement to Gulf News, a Transguard spokesperson said: “It has been an extremely emotional time for everybody connected with this terrible accident, including Transguard employees, their relatives and friends.” “Our welfare and staff support teams are working tirelessly, counselling, notifying next of kin and coordinating with the doctors and nurses on behalf of the injured in hospital — arranging visits, passing on personal messages as well as offering medical updates.”
