Horrific bus crash in Dubai claims 17 lives

Twe lve Indi ans were among 17 people who were killed in Dubai when their bus crashed into a road sign after entering a restricted lane, police and the Indian consulate said. The bus, registered in Oman, was making its way into Dubai from Muscat with 31 passengers of different nationalities on board when the accident occurred onThursday night, Dubai police said in a tweet. The accident victims were rushed to the Rashid Hospital in Dubai.

A few others are still undergoing treatment. It blamed the Omani driver, who was moderately injured, for the crash saying “attimes a small mistake or negligence can lead to adverse consequences”. During questioning,the driver, who sustained moderate injuries, said that he had not seen the warning signage because he had installed a small curtain on his windshield to protect his eyes from the sun. Ongoing investigations have revealed that the impact of the accident indicates that the driver was exceeding the speed limit of 40kph on that road.

The Indian consulate in Dubai said 12 nationals were killed in the crash. The names of those who have passed away are Rajagopalan, Feroz Khan Pathan, Reshma Feroz Khan Pathan, Deepak Kumar, Jamaludeen Arakkaveettil, Kiran Johnny, Vasudev, Tilakram Jawahar Thakur. “Two among the confirmed dead were residents of Oman and were coming to Dubai on holiday, while six others were UAE residents,” said Sanjeev Kumar, an officer at the Indian consulate. Police initially said 15 passengers were killed on impact while five others, including the Omani bus driver, in his fifties, were taken to Rashid Hospital to be treated for injuries ranging from “moderate” to “severe”.

An hour later, police said two more passengers, including a woman, died in hospital, increasing the death toll to 17. The identities ofthe other four victims were not immediately known. A spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed one Irish national, a woman, had died and consular assistance was being provided to the family. Emarat Al-Youm newspaper, citing Dubai police officials, said the accident occurred when the driver entered a lane not designated for buses. The bus crashed into a height restriction sign, it said.

TheOmangovernment-owned bus company Mwasalat said five people were also injured in the accident. It apologised for the crash and said it was suspending all trips between Muscat and Dubai until further notice. “[The] Mwasalat family expresses its deepest condolences to the families of the deceased and wishes a speedy recovery to the injured,” the statement said. Mwasalat said it was working closely with Dubai authorities to investigate the accident. Dubai Police Chief Maj Gen AbdullahAl Marri said the crash was a “tragic incident that led to the death of innocent people.”

Though the cause of the accident has not yet been made known, he called on motorists to always be vigilant while driving. “Sometimes a simple error or negligence during driving leads to serious consequences, as happened this evening, and resulted in the deaths of 17 people of different nationalities,” he said.