Wednesday 30 / October / 2024
Muscat: Three promising Omani photographers lost their lives in a tragic accident, and a fourth is currently battling for his life in hospital, after their car collided with a truck early on Friday morning.
Ahmed Abbadi, Mohammed Al Nahdi and Oman Al Adawi lost their lives, while Sameh Al Rahbi, 22, is currently in critical condition at Nizwa hospital.
The collision took place near Samail, after the four of them had left Duqm and were returning to Muscat. Emergency services from the Public Authority for Civil Defence and Ambulance (PACDA) rushed to save the youths at around 3:45am, before they were rushed to Nizwa hospital.
Sameh Al Rahbi’s relative, who asked to remain anonymous, said: “They were on their way back from Duqm after their photo shoot. The accident took place at 3:45 in the morning. Royal Oman Police called us at approximately nine, telling us that we had to go to Nizwa. At 11, they called us again, confirming the death of my relative's friends.”
An ROP official added: “The truck was parked by the side of the road in Samail, and the car was headed to Muscat. They have been taken to Nizwa Hospital.”
Monitoring condition
A series of surgeries will now need to be performed on Al Rahbi, with doctors continuously monitoring his condition. Doctors were able to stabilise his condition, but can still only perform minor surgeries on him, due to the trauma he has undergone, according to relatives.
Al Rahbi was able to move one of his fingers, following surgery on his hand, a relative added.
“His condition is stable now but he is still suffering from serious injuries and cannot talk,” the relative added.
There were three separate accidents in Oman over the weekend, resulting in five deaths in total. Two separate accidents took place in the Dakhiliyah Governorate on Saturday evening.
One Omani died and four other residents were injured when a truck collided with another vehicle in the town of Wadi Al Auq. According to the ROP, three expats were in the truck at the time of the collision.
Another crash occurred in the wilayat of Izki, after a vehicle lost control and hit six others. One person lost his life, and a further four were injured. They too were evacuated to Nizwa hospital.
“One of them died in the accident and another two are in critical condition,” said a spokesperson for Nizwa hospital.”
Ali Al Barwani, CEO of Oman’s Road Safety Association, called for more awareness and education among residents in the country to halt such tragedies in future.
“Despite all of the efforts taking place to promote road safety, ORSA believes that we need to cover a lot of aspects,” he added.
“This needs everyone, including the private and public departments, to work together in a national strategy.
“This has to be consistent. We cannot appear one time and then disappear after that and scatter our efforts everywhere.
“In the future, a new three-lane highway is going to be built in that area so we hope this will help reduce accidents in the future.
“There is a lack of awareness and responsibility among those who cause accidents, because the drivers are not taking it seriously,” he added.
“Just a little bit of negligence or distraction can cause death on the roads. We also need to bring to public attention the story of those who misbehave on the roads. It’s not just the drivers, but many other people who take part in such behaviour and disobey the traffic law.
Name and shame
“Maybe it is about time to name and shame those who break the law,” explained Al Barwani.
“The Royal Oman Police is doing their part, but if this disrespect is brought to the public, those people will stop doing such things and will help in eliminating such irresponsible behaviour. Our roads should respect the peaceful and respectful nature of Oman.”
