Mock fire drill in Dubai airport tunnel

Fire drill carried out by the Roads and Transport Authority was in response to crash with vehicle carrying inflammable material

Emergency teams helped save passengers in a mock drill involving a collision between vehicles carrying inflammable materials and another loaded with paint at the airport tunnel in Dubai.

The rescue mission was carried out by the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) with 300 participants and 70 rescue cars, civil defence vehicles, police patrols and ambulances and policing enacting a major collision that triggered multiple crashes between a public bus, taxi and two private vehicles.

“The accident resulted in a situation warranting rapid deployment of RTA’s emergency and crises management team as well as an effective and direct intervention of 11 government and semi-government entities,” said Ahmed Hashim Bahrozyan, the chief executive of the RTA’s licensing agency.

“The drill lasted more than four hours during which the airport tunnel was closed in the direction of Al Qusais and Sharjah. The operation examined the preparedness of the RTA’s emergency and crises management team as well as other government bodies and verified the readiness of these teams to intervene and contain such accidents.”

The government agencies that participated in the mock drill included the Dubai Police patrol team, civil defence personnel, a team from Dubai Municipality, the Dubai Health Authority, Dubai Corporation for Ambulance Services, Emirates Airline and Dubai Airports.