Oman crash kills five of an Emirati family

Salalah - Retired Brigadier Ahmed Saad Al Menhali and four members of his family are said to have died in the crash.

Five members of an Emirati family died in a horrific road accident in Adam, Oman, on Friday. The victims belong to Al Menhali tribe of Al Ain, according to reports from the Royal Oman Police.
The accident took place early in the morning on a road to Salalah. According to officials, the driver, owing to fatigue, could have lost control of his vehicle before swerving off the lane and colliding head on with a MAN truck.
UAE-based newspaper Al Bayan and sources in Twitter revealed that the deceased driver of the car was Retired Brigadier Ahmed Saad Al Menhali. He was travelling to Salalah for a weekend trip with his family when he met with the accident in Dhakliya governorate of Oman, 467km from Dubai.
According to Omani media, the crash killed five of the family members, including three women and two men. Al Bayan said Menhali was the oldest person in the car, aged 60-years, and the youngest victim was his nine-year-old daughter.
The bodies were immediately rushed to nearby Al Nizwa hospital and later in the day airlifted to the UAE with the help of the Royal Oman Police.
Saad Menhali’s cousin Saeed Al Menhali, who is in the UAE, said they received the news of the tragedy from their cousin Majid who was driving in a car behind them. He said the family is devastated at the loss of five family members.
“I know Ahmed well. He was a good person and shared a wonderful relationship with everyone. May God have mercy on him and his family,” another family member told Al Bayan.
An Omani national, who is also said to be critically wounded in the accident, is undergoing treatment at Al Nizwa hospital.
In January this year, an Emirati family of four died in a car crash in Oman. A 62-year-old Emirati, his 52-year-old wife and two children aged 19 and 22 years were the victims.
In February 2014, aother family of three members died in Al Buraimi, Oman, due to reckless driving.
In March 2013, six Emiratis from a family were killed instantly while travelling to Salalah.
In August 2012, seven Emiratis and an Omani child were killed on the spot in a head-on collision in eastern Salalah near Mughsail Blowholes. The dead were members of a family from Al Ain. In November the same year, another car crash on Al Buraimi-Sohar Road road claimed the lives of nine people, sparking a review of road safety in Oman.

• Did you know 2 were killed daily on UAE roads in 2014?