At least 13 killed on UAE roads over Eid holidays

ABU DHABI // At least 13 people were killed in road accidents across the country over the Eid holiday.

Four of the deaths occurred in Abu Dhabi, three in Dubai, five in Fujairah and one in Ajman.

Col Khamis Ishaq Mohammed, the deputy director of Abu Dhabi's traffic and patrols directorate, said most of the emirate's 17 crashes happened at night and were caused by sudden swerving due to excessive speed, reckless driving, running red lights and a failure to observe road conditions.

Another two people were severely injured .

There were seven crashes in Dubai, where three pedestrians were killed in as many days.

One pedestrian was run down in Satwa at midnight on Friday, another in Al Qusais at 5pm on Saturday and a third on Sheikh Zayed Road at 11pm on Sunday.

Four other pedestrians were injured in Satwa, Jumeirah Road and near Dubai Hospital between 10pm and midnight.

A car that was driven through a red light at 10.45am on Saturday caused one severe injury while a four-vehicle collision at a junction in Al Barsha at 11am on Sunday caused medium and minor injuries.

There were 27 crashes in Fujairah.

AA, 14, was killed when a motorcycle driven by his 15-year-old friend crashed into a car in the Qidfa area on the Fujairah-Khor Fakkan road on Thursday.

Both were from Khor Fakkan and neither wore a helmet, police said.

"The driver survived," said Lt Col Hassan Salem of Fujairah Police. "He's still in hospital."

The legal age to drive a motorcycle is 17.

An Emirati, SS, and a Bahraini, 28, died about 4am on Saturday when their Nissan Patrol hit a lamp post. The men were driving from Dubai and it is believed the driver fell asleep at the wheel as he entered Fujairah city.

Police said two Bangladeshi men, MF, 30, and MA, 34, died near Dibba about 3.30pm on Saturday when their car collided with another that accelerated instead of braking as it entered Al Ghub roundabout on the E89 and E87 roads.

In Ajman, an Asian man died after a crash on Emirates Road.