6 Indians killed in UAE bus crash

All six workers who were killed when a bus carrying them to a refinery hit a truck in the United Arab Emirates have been identified as Indian nationals by the police.

Those killed were identified as 29 year-old Raja Reddy Bandhela, 33 year-old Rajesh Kumar Amarnath, 48 year-old Renganathan Sinnan Chetti, 37 year-old Peddi Raju Kollu, 39 year-old Vinod Kumar Dhiman and 33 year-old Srinu Nagalla, the police said.

The bodies of the deceased are yet to be received by the victims' employers, who are in touch with the Indian Embassy to make the necessary arrangements to send the bodies home.

The accident took place on Monday near Ruwais, about 240 km west of UAE capital Abu Dhabi, police said. Preliminary investigations show that the crash occurred when the bus driver entered the main road without checking for other vehicles.

Six people were killed and 44 others were injured. Several of the victims were admitted to hospitals in Gayathi, Ruwais, Madinat Zayed and Mafraq. Among the 44 people injured in the crash, 24 sustained severe to medium injuries. A few are still in critical condition.

A Ruwais resident, who claims to have seen the accident, said the bus was full and was transporting around 50 workers from a labour accommodation in Gayathi to a refinery. Traffic police are investigating the cause of the crash, an official said, adding, preliminary data indicates that it was the bus driver's fault. "He seems to have entered the main road without taking care, which led to the collision with the truck," he said.

An Indian worker who reached the spot while the rescue operations were on told the media that the police had to break open the body of the bus to rescue the workers trapped inside the bus. The damaged bus was seen several metres away from the accident spot, apparently flung by the impact of the collision.