I've never seen such a thing, simply horrible. :(
There was a horrible car pile-up on Abu Dhabi-Dubai highway today's early morning due to the denseset fog the UAE has ever witnessed. Here I am attaching some photos, a video and an eye witness account.
I've never seen such a horrible thing happenes in the UAE before, Baghdad sprang up to my mind (evoked by the burning mixture of steel and tires) when I saw these pictures.
An eye witness account:
(Thanks to B.D. from the community blog.)
".....I wasn't able to get near there due to the several accidents on the same highway some 40-50 kilometers behind the Ghantoot accident. Incredibly, this one involved another 50-60 cars although none burning. In my case I was making my way through the dense fog after 7 am, Dubai bound from Abu Dhabi. It was the densest I've ever seen and found myself in places unable to drive any more than 60 kph. Passing Shahama and after the exit to Al Rabha (near Zayed Military City) I hit the first tailback which eventually led me past 6-8 wrecked cars, some still blocking lanes, others already on side of the road. Immediately past this the tailback resumed which led me another 2 km down the highway only to find this time 50-60 wrecked cars littering both sides of the highway! Just past that the tailback resumed, this time (and after over an hour in wait) I eventually made my way another kilometer ahead past another 12-15 wrecked cars. This was 2-3 kilometers before the Taweela interchange. Once at the interchange all Dubai bound traffic was forced to exit and not allowed to take any road in the Dubai direction--not SZR or any of the service roads on either side of the highway.
Heros:
HeroesFortunately, when these kinds of tragedies happen there are a few heroes. I was reminded in comments by Gulf News readers of the men--laborers perhaps--who were running through the fog, at the edge of the highway, toward oncoming traffic. While I was driving between 60 and 70 kph and trying to keep distance between any cars in front, I don't know if in fact I would have been able to stop in time to avoid ramming into the stalled traffic ahead. I saw two or three guys running and waving arms which alerted me that something was up before I got too close. Who were they? What motivated them? Who taught them that waving arms and running toward oncoming cars might save lives? I, myself, didn't and would never have thought to get out of my car and do that. Real heroes...."
I've never seen such a horrible thing happenes in the UAE before, Baghdad sprang up to my mind (evoked by the burning mixture of steel and tires) when I saw these pictures.
An eye witness account:
(Thanks to B.D. from the community blog.)
".....I wasn't able to get near there due to the several accidents on the same highway some 40-50 kilometers behind the Ghantoot accident. Incredibly, this one involved another 50-60 cars although none burning. In my case I was making my way through the dense fog after 7 am, Dubai bound from Abu Dhabi. It was the densest I've ever seen and found myself in places unable to drive any more than 60 kph. Passing Shahama and after the exit to Al Rabha (near Zayed Military City) I hit the first tailback which eventually led me past 6-8 wrecked cars, some still blocking lanes, others already on side of the road. Immediately past this the tailback resumed which led me another 2 km down the highway only to find this time 50-60 wrecked cars littering both sides of the highway! Just past that the tailback resumed, this time (and after over an hour in wait) I eventually made my way another kilometer ahead past another 12-15 wrecked cars. This was 2-3 kilometers before the Taweela interchange. Once at the interchange all Dubai bound traffic was forced to exit and not allowed to take any road in the Dubai direction--not SZR or any of the service roads on either side of the highway.
Heros:
HeroesFortunately, when these kinds of tragedies happen there are a few heroes. I was reminded in comments by Gulf News readers of the men--laborers perhaps--who were running through the fog, at the edge of the highway, toward oncoming traffic. While I was driving between 60 and 70 kph and trying to keep distance between any cars in front, I don't know if in fact I would have been able to stop in time to avoid ramming into the stalled traffic ahead. I saw two or three guys running and waving arms which alerted me that something was up before I got too close. Who were they? What motivated them? Who taught them that waving arms and running toward oncoming cars might save lives? I, myself, didn't and would never have thought to get out of my car and do that. Real heroes...."
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, March 11, 2008 at 9:13 PM.
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5 Comments:
Oh my god this is really horrible!!!
God help who got into this gigantic accident! and hope this never happen again!
shit man it really is very bad.. I have had shivers since yesterday
This is tragic. It's my understanding that the UAE roads are among the best in the world. I just can't but think of the daily accidents on Syrian highways (with and without fog). Because of the bad infrastructure, the inadequacy or absence of emergency services the results are far more deadly.
Hasan, it's indeed horrible.
KJ, I've been having shivers too, it must have been really traumatic for those who had to drive through all this mess...
Abu Fares, the roads are indeed the best in the world, however, the drivers in the UAE are the worst. You can tell form the wreckages in the photos that even the most modern and presumably 'safe' and secure cars in the world (mustang ZT, Mercedes, and a Nissan Altima) were crushed like a flimsy sheet of aluminum. This all has to do with speeding and the careless drivers who didn't slow down even when the visibility was very low (10 meters)...
True DJ, the best roads and worst drivers - peculiar combo. At times, I just wanna go up to loonies and punch 'em or something! Idiots have zero clue or culture how to freaking drive.
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