Driver error proves fatal for security guard

SHARJAH // A security guard was killed and a man injured when a car ploughed into the front of a currency exchange shop yesterday.

The incident at about 10am in Al Dhaid in the central region occurred when a driver mistakenly put his car into drive instead of reverse before stepping on the accelerator. It crashed through the shop’s front door and ran over the security guard, Sharjah police said.

Emergency crews and police patrols were sent to the scene and the injured man was taken to hospital.

In July, two men were injured when an SUV crashed through the front window of the National Paints shop in Sharjah. Surveillance footage showed the driver of the white Toyota Land Cruiser was trying to park on the street outside before suddenly crashing through the window and hitting the front desk, injuring the two men. That same month, a woman and child were killed and six people injured after a motorist crashed into an Eppco petrol station in Ajman.

The victims, an Asian woman, 45, and an Iraqi boy, 9, were in a McDonald’s diner when the motorist suffered an epileptic fit and lost control of his vehicle, causing it to crash into the diner. Col Ahmad bin Darwish, director of Central Region Police, urged motorists to be more careful behind the wheel and to avoid distractions that could lead to accidents.