Eight Emiratis killed in Oman road crash

With map: Eight Emiratis were killed in the early hours of Friday morning in northern Oman when their cars collided with an electrical transformer that fell from the back of a lorry.

MUSCAT // Eight Emiratis died in northern Oman yesterday when their two cars hit an electrical transformer that fell from the back of a lorry.

Police did not reveal the names of the victims or whether they were related to each other.

Two Omanis were also killed in the crash, Sohar police said, and four other people were seriously injured. Police would not say if any of them were Emirati.

“The truck that carried the transformer lost control as it was negotiating a bend at the Buraimi-Sohar road,” said Nasser Mubarak, a resident of Sohar.

“The thing fell on the road and there was a four-car pile-up after that. Two cars collided with the transformer while the other two hit the two cars in front.”

It was the highest toll from an accident involving Emiratis on Omani roads this year.

In August, Col Saif Abdullah Al Hajj Al Kaabi, an Emirati from Al Ain, died with six of his children after their car hit a lorry and rolled over.

Mr Mubarak said the lorry belonged to one of the contractors whose company was supplying equipment to a construction site in Sohar.

The lorry was on its way from Wadi Jizzi, near Buraimi, to Sohar. The vehicles involved in the crash were going in the opposite direction.

A message on Twitter from the Royal Oman Police traffic department confirmed the accident was caused by a power transformer that had fallen into the path of oncoming traffic on the four-lane highway.

Medical officials at the Buraimi hospital confirmed the death toll.

The Omani police on Twitter urged motorists to drive carefully, avoid using mobile phones and drive slowly.

Oman is struggling to control its high number of road accidents.

There were 4,177 road accidents in Oman in the first six months of this year, and 927 deaths in accidents from January to October 19.

That was up from 838 deaths in the same period last year.

The World Health Organisation says there are 21.3 road deaths per 100,000 of population each year in Oman.

View Sohar-Buraimi road accident in a larger map

Medical officials at the Buraimi hospital confirmed the death toll.

The Oman police urged motorists on Twitter to drive cautiously and avoid using mobile phones and drive slow as most of accidents occur due to speeding.

This is the highest road toll this year involving Emiratis in Oman. In August, Col Saif Abdullah Al Haj Al Ka'abi, an Emirati from Al Ain, died with six of his children after their car hit a lorry and rolled over.

Oman is struggling to control high incidents of road accidents. There were 4,177 road accidents in Oman in the first six months of 2012, and 927 deaths in road accidents from January till October 19 this year, up from 838 deaths in 2011 the same period.

According to the World Health Organisation, there are 21.3 road traffic deaths per 100,000 population each year in Oman. In the UAE, the rate is 37.1; Kuwait's is 16.9 and Bahrain's 12.1.