One dead, 60 injured in pile-up; 9 serious

Dubai/Abu Dhabi, 2, April 2011 :One person was killed and 60 others were injured in a road crash involving 127 vehicles on Shaikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum Highway from Abu Dhabi to Dubai on Saturday.

According to the Abu Dhabi Police and eye-witnesses, the collision happened at around 8am on Saturday due to dense fog. The accident, which left a trail of vehicles for over one kilometre, happened between Taweelah and Samhah interchanges.

The General Headquarters of Abu Dhabi Police said only one person, an Asian, was killed in the accident.

"The accident was caused by both bad weather (dense fog) and human error. Despite poor visibility due to heavy fog, most of the drivers on Saturday morning did not abide by the rules," said Major-General Mohammed Al Awadi Al Menhali, Director-General of
Nine in serious condition
Olivia Olarte

Fifty-two people injured from the car pile-up have been admitted at Al Rahba Hospital, seven at Al Mafraq hospital and one at Shaikh Khalifa Medical City (SKMC).

According to Dr Nellie Boma, chief medical officer of Al Rahba Hospital, nine were admitted in serious condition with multiple fractures, 14 with moderate injuries while 29 have superficial injuries.

Of the seriously injured, one immediately underwent surgery due to tibial (leg) fracture. "We received another case with cervical spine fracture and we immediately transferred him (Pakistani) to SKMC as we don't have the specialist here for the high intensity treatment that he required," Dr Boma told Khaleej Times. According to her, the injured were brought in from 8.35am. The last patient was received at around 10.30am. "The first two patients drove here themselves," she said.

The injured included 17 Emiratis, five Pakistanis, five Indians, four Egyptians, three Omanis, two Bangladeshis, two Jordanians and one each from Sudan, South Africa, Uzbekistan, Palestinian, Syrian, Iraqi and Yemen. The youngest is 21-year-old Emirati.

Dr Boma said 27 of the 52 patients were discharged as of Saturday afternoon, 25 with slight injuries and two with moderate injuries.

"The others are still under observation but so far all are stable," said Boma. At Al Mafraq Hospital, seven injured people were brought by ambulances at around 10am.

According to Dr Jehad Awad, deputy head of the Emergency Department at the hospital, two Asians were admitted while an Arab family of five were discharged after administering first aid.

"The two Asian nationals were taken to the surgical ward for observation. One has a leg fracture while the other has a contusion of the forehead and chest. We will keep them here for two to three days," said Dr Awad. - olivia@khaleejtimes.com
Police Operations at the Abu Dhabi Police General Headquarters.

He advised and warned motorists to be more cautious under such weather conditions, particularly during the early hours when the external roads and highways are badly affected by heavy fog.

More than 100 heavily-equipped safety and rescue vehicles rushed to the scene to handle the situation. They included mobile hospitals with paramedics providing on-the-spot treatment to the injured. As rescue operations were going on the ground, helicopters hovered over the sky monitoring the traffic situation on the highway.

According to Colonel Khamis Al Marar, operation head at the accident site, rescue and other support teams were dispatched from Dubai including personnel and equipment from the Civil Defence as well as medical support teams.

Al Menhali further added that despite the severe nature of the accident affecting a long sector of the highway, traffic was restored swiftly, and within a couple of hours the injured were rushed to nearby hospitals. "All the nearby traffic police patrols, rescue and safety teams and both land and air wing ambulances reached the spot within five minutes. All the 127 vehicles that included dozens of burnt ones were removed from the highway to restore the traffic flow," he added.

Director of Abu Dhabi's Traffic and Patrols Department Brigadier Ahmed Hussein Al Harthy, said the police operations room received a call about the accident at 7.59am and soon the operation began.

According to the police and eyewitnesses, dozens of vehicles caught fire due to petrol tank bursts and electric short circuits because of the impact of the collision. "I could see from the service road behind the petrol pump a row of vehicles burning when I was on my way from Samhah to Dubai for work around 8.15am," said Manzoor Noor, an eye-witness.

Yaqoub Baloch, an expatriate resident of Samhah, said he drove on the highway towards Abu Dhabi around 7.15 and the road was clear then. "There was heavy fog on the road. Visibility was very low. I could not see anything in front of me with the car lights full on. The traffic, especially on the other side heading to Dubai was very heavy with lots of trucks, big and small buses, vans and other private cars," he said.

Another eye-witness said the road from Abu Dhabi to Dubai was blocked from Shahama and the traffic was diverted to a parallel truck road that links to the Emirates Highway.

"All the vehicles heading for Dubai from Shahama were diverted to the truck road because of the accident which blocked the entire highway from Bahiyah near Shahama to Taweelah," she said. She added that she was asked to take the diversion from Shahama at 9.30am. She also said the highway was also closed for traffic heading for Abu Dhabi from Jebel Ali. Later, traffic was allowed up to Taweelah Interchange from where it was diverted to Samhah Interchange via Taweelah residential and industrial areas. By 10.45 am, all the damaged and burnt vehicles were removed and the highway was cleared for traffic.

By :Nissar Hoath - Gulf News