ABU DHABI // An impoverished farmer in India whose son was one of 13 workers killed in the Dubai bus crash spoke on Tuesday of his family’s grief, their shattered dreams and his struggle with debt.
Ramchand Gupta, 50, borrowed money from relatives to send his son Sanjay to the UAE four months ago in the hope of a better life. The plan was that he would repay the debt with some of the money Sanjay sent home from his Dh1,200-a-month wage as a pipe-fitter.
But Sanjay and 12 colleagues from India and Bangladesh died when the bus taking them from their accommodation in Umm Al Quwain to work in Jebel Ali on May 10 ploughed into a stationary lorry on Emirates Road. Sanjay left behind in India a wife, a little girl aged 18 months and a boy aged 4, and an extended family.
“All the dreams are shattered,” his grieving father said on Tuesday at his home in Uttar Pradesh state in northern India. “In four months, destiny played a horrific game and snatched my son, leaving us in frightening darkness.”
Sanjay’s wife and children cry all day and the little boy and girl ask for their father, Mr Gupta said.
He borrowed 30,000 rupees, just under Dh2,000, to send his son to Dubai, and has not been able to pay any of it back.
“Already I had debt. But I borrowed this amount hoping that quickly I’ll repay them as soon as my son starts remitting money.
“My son was the only source of assistance – now who will finance our expenses?
“I am shuttling between administrative and judicial department offices to collect the required documents to send to Dubai to help claim compensation.”
Sanjay’s cousin Bhagedan Gupta, 27, who lives in Umm Al Quwain and works as a metal fabricator in Sharjah, has been authorised by the family to take up the compensation issue.
“I have approached a lawyer in Dubai and I am arranging documents,” he said.
“The major problem with Sanjay’s family is that he left behind two very young children and the concern now is about their upbringing.”
The bodies of the 13 victims, nine from India and four from Bangladesh, were finally repatriated last week, more than 10 days after the crash.
The delay was attributed to paperwork, and airline regulations stipulating that only two bodies could be carried on a flight, the Indian consulate said.
The cost of repatriation and tickets for accompanying relatives was met by the victims’ employer.
“By Thursday all four Bangladeshi bodies were sent back, where they performed the last rites and buried them. But it took too much time,” said Mohammed Ahmed, whose nephew Nazrul Islam, 28, was one of the Bangladeshi victims.
Nazrul’s mother, 65, suffers from heart disease and he was aiming to save money for treatment.
“The next step is to fight for compensation,” said Mr Ahmed, who has lived in the Sonapur labour camp in Dubai for the past six years.
Some of the victims’ relatives are expected to file individual cases for compensation, but others will go through the consulates here because they can help with court procedures and documents.
Dubai police have already filed the case to Public Prosecution. The court will decide who is liable and order them to pay compensation, said Nizanur Rahman, the first secretary of labour at the Bangladeshi consulate in Dubai.
Those held responsible then approach their insurance company to deposit the compensation with the court. Once all the money is deposited, the victims authorise representatives to file a case to claim the money, said Mr Rahman.
He said he hoped the process would take two to three months but sometimes it could take up to a year.
The Indian embassy has a free, 24-hour inquiry helpline at 800 46342 (800-India) in English, Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu.
anwar@thenational.ae
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
MATCH INFO
New Zealand 176-8 (20 ovs)
England 155 (19.5 ovs)
New Zealand win by 21 runs
Coming soon
Torno Subito by Massimo Bottura
When the W Dubai – The Palm hotel opens at the end of this year, one of the highlights will be Massimo Bottura’s new restaurant, Torno Subito, which promises “to take guests on a journey back to 1960s Italy”. It is the three Michelinstarred chef’s first venture in Dubai and should be every bit as ambitious as you would expect from the man whose restaurant in Italy, Osteria Francescana, was crowned number one in this year’s list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
Akira Back Dubai
Another exciting opening at the W Dubai – The Palm hotel is South Korean chef Akira Back’s new restaurant, which will continue to showcase some of the finest Asian food in the world. Back, whose Seoul restaurant, Dosa, won a Michelin star last year, describes his menu as, “an innovative Japanese cuisine prepared with a Korean accent”.
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal
The highly experimental chef, whose dishes are as much about spectacle as taste, opens his first restaurant in Dubai next year. Housed at The Royal Atlantis Resort & Residences, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal will feature contemporary twists on recipes that date back to the 1300s, including goats’ milk cheesecake. Always remember with a Blumenthal dish: nothing is quite as it seems.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
WORLD CUP FINAL
England v South Africa
Yokohama International Stadium, Tokyo
Saturday, kick-off 1pm (UAE)
Why seagrass matters
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TWISTERS
Director: Lee Isaac Chung
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Dr Amal Khalid Alias revealed a recent case of a woman with daughters, who specifically wanted a boy.
A semen analysis of the father showed abnormal sperm so the couple required IVF.
Out of 21 eggs collected, six were unused leaving 15 suitable for IVF.
A specific procedure was used, called intracytoplasmic sperm injection where a single sperm cell is inserted into the egg.
On day three of the process, 14 embryos were biopsied for gender selection.
The next day, a pre-implantation genetic report revealed four normal male embryos, three female and seven abnormal samples.
Day five of the treatment saw two male embryos transferred to the patient.
The woman recorded a positive pregnancy test two weeks later.
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What it means to be a conservationist
Who is Enric Sala?
Enric Sala is an expert on marine conservation and is currently the National Geographic Society's Explorer-in-Residence. His love of the sea started with his childhood in Spain, inspired by the example of the legendary diver Jacques Cousteau. He has been a university professor of Oceanography in the US, as well as working at the Spanish National Council for Scientific Research and is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Biodiversity and the Bio-Economy. He has dedicated his life to protecting life in the oceans. Enric describes himself as a flexitarian who only eats meat occasionally.
What is biodiversity?
According to the United Nations Environment Programme, all life on earth – including in its forests and oceans – forms a “rich tapestry of interconnecting and interdependent forces”. Biodiversity on earth today is the product of four billion years of evolution and consists of many millions of distinct biological species. The term ‘biodiversity’ is relatively new, popularised since the 1980s and coinciding with an understanding of the growing threats to the natural world including habitat loss, pollution and climate change. The loss of biodiversity itself is dangerous because it contributes to clean, consistent water flows, food security, protection from floods and storms and a stable climate. The natural world can be an ally in combating global climate change but to do so it must be protected. Nations are working to achieve this, including setting targets to be reached by 2020 for the protection of the natural state of 17 per cent of the land and 10 per cent of the oceans. However, these are well short of what is needed, according to experts, with half the land needed to be in a natural state to help avert disaster.
