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Dubai bridge crash kills seven workers

DUBAI — At least seven people were killed and 15 others injured when the central section of a bridge under construction collapsed in the Jumeirah area in Dubai around 7.30pm yesterday, spreading panic in the vicinity.

According to a Wam report, Matar Saeed Al Tayer, Director-General of Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), confirmed that seven workers were killed and 15 injured in the accident on Sufooh Road, near Marina Mall in Jumeirah, Dubai.

Al Tayer said the bridge collapsed when a crane operator placed too many steel bars on the bridge’s top layer.

“From an engineering point of view, the amount of steel placed was more than the allowed limit. There are certain safety rules that any contractor should adhere to,” he added.

He affirmed that the RTA would take all necessary measures, including investigations, “to ensure that such an unfortunate incident does not occur again.”

Al Tayer offered condolence to the families of the victims and wished speedy recovery to the injured people.

Among the dead and injured were Indian workers belonging to Dubai-based Wade Adams Contracting Company.

Concrete and iron debris could be seen strewn across a wide area near the site of the bridge collapse, the first of its kind in the country.

In a swift response to the tragedy, nearly 100 personnel from Dubai Police and Civil Defence and paramedics rushed to the spot for rescue and relief operations. Joining them in the well-coordinated effort were at least three helicopters from the Dubai Police Air Wing and nearly a dozen ambulances which ferried the victims to Rashid Hospital.

The police cordoned off the area, blocked the approach roads and diverted traffic as a precautionary measure even as ambulances with wailing sirens and flashing beacons rushed the injured to the Rashid Hospital Trauma Centre.

Later, the bodies of the deceased were shifted to the police morgue.

None of the dead could be identified immediately, but survivors claimed that most of them probably belonged to the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

According to Rashid Hospital sources, of the 15 people admitted, five were in a critical condition.

Police officers at the site said the workers who were trapped under the debris were rescued by police and civil defence personnel.

A couple of survivors said most of the dead and injured labourers were working on and under the iron scaffolding which suddenly tilted and collapsed, trapping many of them under the rubble.

According to one version, the scaffolding collapsed apparently after being hit by the swinging arm of one of the cranes at the worksite.

Muthuraj, one of the survivors, said, “I was working on the scaffolding along with several others when shockingly it collapsed creakingly, killing one of them instantly.”

N. M. Naushad, Group HR Manager of Wade Adams said according to the company’s policy the families of each of the deceased will be given an initial compensation equivalent of 120 months’ salary.

The bridge project began eight months ago and was scheduled for completion next year.

-With Raj Silvano and George K. J.