Bahraini national killed in horrific causeway accident

A fatal traffic accident involving a car and a truck occurred yesterday on Prince Khalifa bin Salman Causeway near Khalifa Bin Salman Port in Muharraq Governorate. The Bahraini driver of the car was announced dead on the spot by paramedics. He was stuck in the vehicle as the car he was driving rammed into the 18-wheeler on the busy highway, which witnesses high traffic movement of heavy vehicles on a daily basis.

Traffic was reportedly halted for almost an hour until the concerned authorities removed the vehicles and restored the flow of traffic. The deceased was identified as Saif Salman, a Bahraini national in his twenties, while no further information was available on the trucker, who escaped harmless. An investigation has been launched into the details of the accident.  Tribune reported last week that a Bahraini man was killed on the spot in a head-on collision that occurred on Shaikh Isa bin Salman Highway near Sehla.

Traffic Prosecution Chief Prosecutor Mohammed Al Dhahrani clarified in a statement that the mishap occurred below the Isa Town flyover and that the bus driver has been confirmed to be under the influence of alcohol at the time of the accident. “The details of the mishap indicate that the Asian suspect was driving a bus and wanted to drive towards the Isa Town flyover, but he took a wrong turn.

“The suspect stopped the bus on the emergency lane on the right, then he took a U-turn and drove for 800 metres on the left lane, opposite to the oncoming traffic, resulting in the collision with the victim, who was stuck in his vehicle and died on the spot as a result of the injuries he sustained,” Mr Al Dhahrani said. The official stated that the prosecution interrogated the driver and accused him of unintentionally causing the death of a person, driving under the influence of alcohol, causing damages to others’ properties, reckless driving, driving in the wrong direction and driving vehicle with an expired registration.

Scores of citizens and residents took to social media, demanding to curb the movement of heavy vehicles on highways and to ban them during rush hours, considering the increasing numbers of fatal accidents involving such vehicles. Fatal accidents formed four per cent of the total accidents that occurred in June this year, in accordance to the latest statistics released by the General Directorate of Traffic in Interior Ministry.

The figures showed that 19 people were killed in traffic accidents in the first three months of 2019. Around 100 sustained serious injuries and 102 survived with minor injuries caused by traffic accidents during the same period.