UPDATE: Drivers in deadly crash questioned by Dubai Police
DUBAI // Thirteen labourers were killed and more than a dozen injured early yesterday when their bus ploughed into the back of a stationary lorry on Emirates Road in Dubai.
Nine of the dead were from India and four from Bangladesh.
All 13 were dead by the time paramedics arrived at the scene near exit 50 shortly after the crash at 6.30am. The injured were being treated at Rashid Hospital and Al Baraha Hospital in Dubai.
The mangled wreckage of the bus had to be cut open to free the victims, said Lt Col Ahmed Atiq Burqibah, deputy director of rescue at Dubai Police.
“It’s definitely the biggest accident so far this year,” he said. “So many people died and so many others were injured. It was a big disaster.”
It is thought the bus in which the labourers were travelling had been straddling the right hard shoulder and the nearside lane of the motorway travelling towards Abu Dhabi.
It hit the lorry, which was stopped on the hard shoulder, and skidded for eight metres before flipping over. It then slid five more metres before coming to a stop.
The lorry driver told police he had stopped on the hard shoulder because he suspected something was wrong with the vehicle’s brakes.
A spokesman for the Indian consulate in Dubai confirmed that nine Indian nationals had been killed in the crash, and two injured.
“The consulate is in touch with the survivors and will provide all necessary assistance to them,” the spokesman said. “We will also facilitate the dispatch of the remains of those killed.”
The Bangladeshi consul general, Masood Al Rahman, said four of his country’s nationals were killed in the accident.
“We are visiting hospitals and working with authorities to get more information on this,” he said.
Mr Al Rahman said he could not confirm the nationality of the two remaining victims of the crash.
A spokesman for the Pakistan consulate said that none of their nationals were involved in the accident.
Admissions records from Al Baraha Hospital show that five people were admitted from the crash at 7.50am and that all were discharged at about 10.30am because their injuries were minor.
The deadliest labour transport crash occurred in February 2013 when a lorry laden with 75 tonnes of sand and building materials ploughed into the back of a bus carrying 45 workers.
Twenty-one people were killed and 23 injured.
newsdesk@thenational.ae
This article was amended on May 11 to correct that 13 people had died in the accident, not 15 as previously reported.
UPDATE: Drivers in deadly crash questioned by Dubai Police
TV: World Cup Qualifier 2018 matches will be aired on on OSN Sports HD Cricket channel
Arabian Gulf League fixtures:
Friday:
- Emirates v Hatta, 5.15pm
- Al Wahda v Al Dhafra, 5.25pm
- Al Ain v Shabab Al Ahli Dubai, 8.15pm
Saturday:
- Dibba v Ajman, 5.15pm
- Sharjah v Al Wasl, 5.20pm
- Al Jazira v Al Nasr, 8.15pm
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: SmartCrowd
Started: 2018
Founder: Siddiq Farid and Musfique Ahmed
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech / PropTech
Initial investment: $650,000
Current number of staff: 35
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Various institutional investors and notable angel investors (500 MENA, Shurooq, Mada, Seedstar, Tricap)
Oscars in the UAE
The 90th Academy Awards will be aired in the UAE from 3.30am on Monday, March 5 on OSN, with the ceremony starting at 5am
Three-day coronation
Royal purification
The entire coronation ceremony extends over three days from May 4-6, but Saturday is the one to watch. At the time of 10:09am the royal purification ceremony begins. Wearing a white robe, the king will enter a pavilion at the Grand Palace, where he will be doused in sacred water from five rivers and four ponds in Thailand. In the distant past water was collected from specific rivers in India, reflecting the influential blend of Hindu and Buddhist cosmology on the coronation. Hindu Brahmins and the country's most senior Buddhist monks will be present. Coronation practices can be traced back thousands of years to ancient India.
The crown
Not long after royal purification rites, the king proceeds to the Baisal Daksin Throne Hall where he receives sacred water from eight directions. Symbolically that means he has received legitimacy from all directions of the kingdom. He ascends the Bhadrapitha Throne, where in regal robes he sits under a Nine-Tiered Umbrella of State. Brahmins will hand the monarch the royal regalia, including a wooden sceptre inlaid with gold, a precious stone-encrusted sword believed to have been found in a lake in northern Cambodia, slippers, and a whisk made from yak's hair.
The Great Crown of Victory is the centrepiece. Tiered, gold and weighing 7.3 kilograms, it has a diamond from India at the top. Vajiralongkorn will personally place the crown on his own head and then issues his first royal command.
The audience
On Saturday afternoon, the newly-crowned king is set to grant a "grand audience" to members of the royal family, the privy council, the cabinet and senior officials. Two hours later the king will visit the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the most sacred space in Thailand, which on normal days is thronged with tourists. He then symbolically moves into the Royal Residence.
The procession
The main element of Sunday's ceremonies, streets across Bangkok's historic heart have been blocked off in preparation for this moment. The king will sit on a royal palanquin carried by soldiers dressed in colourful traditional garb. A 21-gun salute will start the procession. Some 200,000 people are expected to line the seven-kilometre route around the city.
Meet the people
On the last day of the ceremony Rama X will appear on the balcony of Suddhaisavarya Prasad Hall in the Grand Palace at 4:30pm "to receive the good wishes of the people". An hour later, diplomats will be given an audience at the Grand Palace. This is the only time during the ceremony that representatives of foreign governments will greet the king.
RESULT
Los Angeles Galaxy 2 Manchester United 5
Galaxy: Dos Santos (79', 88')
United: Rashford (2', 20'), Fellaini (26'), Mkhitaryan (67'), Martial (72')
EMIRATES'S REVISED A350 DEPLOYMENT SCHEDULE
Edinburgh: November 4 (unchanged)
Bahrain: November 15 (from September 15); second daily service from January 1
Kuwait: November 15 (from September 16)
Mumbai: January 1 (from October 27)
Ahmedabad: January 1 (from October 27)
Colombo: January 2 (from January 1)
Muscat: March 1 (from December 1)
Lyon: March 1 (from December 1)
Bologna: March 1 (from December 1)
Source: Emirates
Coal Black Mornings
Brett Anderson
Little Brown Book Group
ROUTE TO TITLE
Round 1: Beat Leolia Jeanjean 6-1, 6-2
Round 2: Beat Naomi Osaka 7-6, 1-6, 7-5
Round 3: Beat Marie Bouzkova 6-4, 6-2
Round 4: Beat Anastasia Potapova 6-0, 6-0
Quarter-final: Beat Marketa Vondrousova 6-0, 6-2
Semi-final: Beat Coco Gauff 6-2, 6-4
Final: Beat Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 6-2
BIRD BOX BARCELONA
Directors: David and Alex Pastor
Stars: Georgina Campbell, Mario Casas, Diego Calva
Rating: 2/5
Tewellah by Nawal Zoghbi is out now.
Match info
Manchester City 3 (Jesus 22', 50', Sterling 69')
Everton 1 (Calvert-Lewin 65')
Kill
Director: Nikhil Nagesh Bhat
Starring: Lakshya, Tanya Maniktala, Ashish Vidyarthi, Harsh Chhaya, Raghav Juyal
Rating: 4.5/5
Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus
Developer: Sucker Punch Productions
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Console: PlayStation 2 to 5
Rating: 5/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Haltia.ai
Started: 2023
Co-founders: Arto Bendiken and Talal Thabet
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: AI
Number of employees: 41
Funding: About $1.7 million
Investors: Self, family and friends
