Dubai - Bus crash killed 17 passengers and injured 13.
Published: Thu 31 Oct 2019, 4:33 PM
Updated: Thu 31 Oct 2019, 7:08 PM
The Dubai Court of Appeals adjourned the hearing into Al Rashidiya bus crash on Thursday until a later date so that a panel of road engineering experts could be assigned to assess any possible technical faults and prepare a report. The bus crash killed 17 passengers and injured 13.
On July 11, the Dubai Traffic Court convicted the bus driver, a 53-year-old Omani, of multiple charges, including causing the death of 17 passengers, inflicting different physical injuries on 13 others and causing property damage. Court sentenced him to seven years in prison.
It ordered him to pay Dh3.4 million in blood money to the families of the crash victims.
The court also ordered in its ruling that the defendant's driving license be suspended for one year and that he be deported after serving his prison time and paying, in addition to the blood money, a Dh50,000 fine.
The mishap occurred around 5:40pm on June 6 at Al Rashidiya exit on Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Road when the driver struck the overhead height restriction barrier. The bus driver who was then driving at 94 kmph - exceeding the speed limit by more than a double, stopped at 44 metres from the crash site.
Advocate-General and head of the Traffic Prosecution Salah Bou Farrucha Al Felasi earlier said that the driver admitted during the prosecution investigation his fault by not following the road signs and not sticking to the bus lane while driving a bus with 30 passengers of different nationalities on board.
As many as 15 passengers died on the spot and the others were rushed to hospitals.
The driver's defense team earlier argued in court that the barrier that the bus collided with was not compliant with international standards. "There are technical faults as to how it was placed and how it was made. It should not have been that solid but rather move when hit."
The defendant has been released on bail.
His bail conditions included depositing his passport in addition to two other passports.
mary@khaleejtimes.com
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