Engaged couple dies in collision with lorry

Two others were severely wounded, including an 11-year-old girl, in the accident on the Abu Dhabi-Sweihan road

ABU DHABI // A young Sudanese couple died yesterday morning after their car collided with a lorry on the Abu Dhabi-Sweihan road. Two other people were severely injured in the accident, including the woman's sister, aged 11, police said. The man, 28, identified by the police only as NAA, and a 19-year-old woman, NAR, were engaged to be married. The lorry driver, identified as BJ, from Pakistan, was in a critical condition.

The accident happened as the couple's blue saloon car joined the motorway from a side street and collided with a lorry loaded with sand. Police said the driver had failed to make sure the road was clear. The car skidded, hit the roadside metal barrier and caused the lorry driver to lose control. The lorry overturned and fell on the car, killing the couple instantly. The lorry driver and the girl who survived were transferred by air ambulance to Mafraq hospital.

"The collision was so powerful that the light vehicle was thrust 67 metres away," said Col Hamad al Shamsi, the director of the traffic and patrols department. "The sand covered the car and the road." Col Shamsi appealed to drivers to take care when joining motorways and to pay attention to signs, to "protect the lives the drivers and other road users". Last year, 1,056 people were killed in 8,872 accidents, compared with 878 deaths and 8,443 accidents in 2006, according to police figures.

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