Dense fog causes two pile- ups
71 CRASHES REPORTED IN DUBAI WITH POLICE RECEIVING 806 CALLS
As many as 63 cars were involved in two pile- ups in the Al Rahamaniya area of Sharjah as dense fog caught motorists unawares. Dubai also witnessed at least 71 traffic accidents yesterday morning, while around a dozen flights were diverted, cancelled or rescheduled.
The twin pile- ups took place at interchange seven on the Bypass Road heading towards Dubai. The first one involving 30 cars took place at around 7.10am, while the second involving 33 cars took place a little later.
Five people were reportedly injured in the second pile- up and were taken to the nearest hospital. However, no casualties were reported in the accidents in Dubai.
Brigadier Abdullah Mubarak Al Dukhan, deputy commander of Sharjah Police, advised motorist to abide by traffic rules. Motorists’ failure to keep a safe distance from the vehicles ahead of them also contributed to the accidents, he said.
Foggy conditions returned to trouble motorists after a few days, with visibility reduced to virtually zero in many areas. Widespread disruption of road and air traffic was reported, with blinding conditions forcing motorists to pull up on highways, while flights were diverted and several flights were either rescheduled or cancelled.
Emirates rescheduled a few flights from Dubai, and one Emirates flight heading to Dubai was diverted to Fujairah, according to an official statement, while flights EK851 to Doha and EK606 to Karachi were cancelled. Affected passengers were scheduled to leave on the next available flights.
Two flights bound for other airports were diverted to Dubai International Airport and Dubai World Central, according to a Dubai Airports official.
Flydubai flights were also reportedly disrupted, though no details were available. As many nine Abu Dhabi- bound flights were diverted, eight to Al Ain International Airport and one flight to Dubai, according to a statement. Sharjah- based Air Arabia, too, was forced to reschedule some of its flights, according to Air Arabia’s spokesperson, Hussam Raydan.
Colonel Ahmad Suhail, deputy director of the Monitoring and Control Centre at Dubai Police Operations Room, said that the operation room received 806 phone calls in the morning for fog- related enquiries and reports.
Colonel Suhail urged motorists to drive carefully and be wary of sudden changes in weather conditions.