Abu Dhabi:  Ghastly Accident near Ghantoot - Several Feared Dead

Daijiworld Media Network - Abu Dhabi (GA)

March 12, 2008
7 Days - Update:

A driver has spoken of the carnage he witnessed yesterday after being caught up in a horrendous traffic accident on the road between Dubai and Abu Dhabi, comparing the sight to a battlefield. Bakshish Singh was talking after seeing at close quarters the 60-car pile-up, which claimed three lives and left 317 injured according to Abu Dhabi Police. Many of the injured are still critical after what is believed to be the UAE's biggest ever traffic smash, which occurred in thick fog close to Ghantoot yesterday morning.
“People were lying on the floor and were screaming for their lives. Some of them were struggling to get out of their vehicles after the doors got jammed because of the impact of the accident, while others were stuck between the seats and shouting for help. Everything was very frightening,” he said. “Cars were burning all over the place. It was like a battlefield where bombs rip up vehicles. The scene was bloody carnage.”

Singh was following a bus transporting a friend of his when the bus became one of the vehicles caught in the smash. He immediately jumped from his car and ran towards the bus to see if he could help anyone.  He found his friend slumped unconscious in the vehicle, so put him over his shoulder and carried him to safety.

“No one was ready to take my friend to the hospital. He was in dire straits and was crying in pain. I thought he was going to die in front of my eyes. I would never forgive myself for not helping him out,” the unassuming hero said.  His friend was one of the lucky ones as an ambulance soon arrived and sped him away to Rashid hospital in Dubai.

“He might be out of the hospital in a day or two. It's miracle that he survived,” Singh said. Two buses carrying more than 30 workers were smashed beyond recognition during the accident and Singh said he saw one man survive the initial crash, but then get hit by a reckless motorist driving down the hard shoulder.

“While I was trying to rescue my friend, I was horrified to see one of the passengers from a crashed bus being mowed down by a car that was speeding down the hard shoulder. I have never seen anything like this in my life. It was absolute chaos,” he said.
Officials blamed the accident on some motorists driving recklessly and not taking special care in the heavy fog, which reduced visibility to a few feet.

March 11, 2008 :

Abu Dhabi, Mar 11: In what seems to be the worst accident to be ever recorded in the history of the United Arab Emirates, more than 200 cars were involved in a massive pile-up on the Abu Dhabi-Dubai Road that according to early estimates might have claimed eight lives. About 284 people were also reported injured, 15 were in critical condition and 67 had sustained moderate injuries. The accident occured on Tuesday, March 11, 2008 morning.

The accident on Shaikh Rashi bin Saaed Road has resulted in a traffic jam for the past few hours.  While most of the cars involved in the accident have been damaged heavily, some of them have been charred beyond recognition.

Agency Report:

Ninety-two cars caught fire in the smash-ups, said Khalifa Al Darrai, chief executive of the ambulance service centre in Dubai.

“I have never witnessed an accident of this scale before. Apparently, there was thick fog that led to the collisions.

“Patients were lying on the road. Thankfully, they had abandoned their cars or else the death toll would have risen significantly,” Al Darrai told Dubai based tabloid by phone.

“We sent people who suffered serious to minor injuries to two hospitals.”

The centre sent over a dozen ambulances, three first response cars and two disaster cars to the accident site.

“Two doctors and nurses from the Rashid Trauma Centre have been sent in a police helicopter to the site. In addition to this there are many ambulances and police rescue teams that have been sent from Abu Dhabi,” said Al Darrai.
It will take time before the extent of the incident can be assessed, said Al Darrai.

“Now we are clearing off the burnt cars from the road and trying to bring the situation under control.”

In Dubai, six people have been rushed to Rashid trauma centre.

“It is a disaster because all the patients were brought in a critical condition and are undergoing surgery at this moment,” said a doctor at the centre.

The accident scene, located approximately 60 kilometers outside the capital, is nearby the Al Ghantoot area.

Traffic is being diverted back to Abu Dhabi through an exit close to the scene along the highway.

The other side of the road is clear, it has been reported.

A fuel leak may have triggered a chain reaction that set more than 92 cars on fire, according to witnesses.

Jassim Al Nuaimi, who drove before 7.30am on the other side of the road from Khalifa City A to Abu Dhabi, told that he had difficulty stopping his car, and said the slippery road conditions may have worsened the accident.

“I was driving at 40kph and the outside temperature was about 16 degree C. I slammed on the breaks but my car still slid three car lengths,” said Al Nuaimi.