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Abu Dhabi court upholds Dh1m compensation for boat crash victim

Abu Dhabi - A lower court had found boat’s captain guilty of overspeeding and recklessness

The Abu Dhabi Civil Appeals Court has upheld the ruling of a lower court that had awarded Dh1 million compensation for a man, who became impotent, and also his left leg had to be amputated following a boat crash.

The boat’s captain and the boat insurance firm were ordered to pay the victim, as he had rammed the vessel into the latter’s jet ski and caused the accident.

Court documents stated that the victim, who is in his 20s, was jet skiing near one of the beaches in Abu Dhabi, when the boat accidentally hit him and caused grievous injuries.

The Abu Dhabi Criminal Court of First Instance had found the boat's captain guilty due to over speeding and recklessness.

The court handed down a two-month jail sentence to the captain and also imposed a fine of Dh5,000.

The victim’s lawyer filed a civil lawsuit against the boat captain and the boat insurance firm and demanded a compensation of Dh10m.

His medical report revealed a traumatic injury to the pelvis and a dislocated fracture of the pubic bone. A metal skewer was also inserted inside his thigh bone on the left leg, which was partially amputated. He has suffered a permanent 100 per cent disability to his left leg, which had to be amputated below the knee joint.

The injuries to the pelvic bones are causing him chronic back pain and has led to a 50 per cent permanent disability, doctors said. He has also become impotent, they added.

Though the defendants challenged the lower court’s verdict, the Abu Dhabi Civil Appeals Court upheld that Dh1m be paid to the victim as compensation along with his legal fees.

ismail@khaleejtimes.com