Photos by Irfaan Raskin via Qatar Day
Updated at 6pm with the names of the victims and more details from the Nepalese and Philippine Embassies
Four men have been killed in a road accident outside Mesaieed earlier this morning, when a mini-bus apparently collided with a truck.
The deceased are two Nepalis and two Filipinos. Their names are Ram Prasad Rajbandhi (45), Girija Khanal (22), Ysrael Villamarin Cenina (37) and Reymel Anonuevo Manalo (22), officials from their respective embassies confirmed to Doha News.
A source at Wakrah Hospital, where the bodies were taken, said they died from head injuries sustained in the crash.
The men worked for Doha-based construction company IMCO Engineering. A representative from the company confirmed the deaths to Doha News, but did not comment further.
The Philippine Ambassador Wilfredo Santos said in a statement that the accident took place at 7.30am when the men were traveling in their company’s rented bus, on their way to work in Mesaieed.
He said the Filipino victims’ next-of-kin have already been informed and IMCO is processing the shipment of their remains to the Philippines.
An official for the Nepalese Embassy in Doha said they were still attempting to contact the families of their deceased nationals.
At least four other IMCO employees were injured in the incident. Two Nepalis are currently in a serious condition at Hamad General Hospital, while two Filipinos were treated for minor injuries and have been discharged from hospital.
Scene
Photographs circulating on social media show a white bus turned over on its side and lying at a right-angle to the road, with the driver’s cabin against a crash barrier.
The right side of the vehicle is badly damaged, and personal belongings appear scattered on the road. A number of trucks can be seen at the accident site, as well as at least one unconscious person.
Emergency vehicles and at least one air ambulance could also been observed at the scene.
Does anyone know more? Thoughts?
How very sad.
“apparently collided with a truck.”
As an Expat, I blame the closest Land Cruiser to the accident.
Lame.
seriously.
Why? Because you didnt get a chance to blame a Qatari?
Do not play chicken with a truck. Very sad news.
that place is really an accident prone area since 2012 to 2013 accident always happen in the turn around way. 2014 no accident report but now again 2015 it appear another accident. big trailer bus and heavy machinery always turn back and that area were the speed limit sign is 120 kph..
Who would be a construction worker here. Not safe at work, not safe at home and then not safe inbetween. RIP these poor guys who were just trying to get by in the world.
How tragic, we should wear protection suit and a helmet while driving a car, never know what’s going to happen on the road, it’s a jungle out there.
The death rate here is around he same for South Korea, Turkey, and United States. We live in a probabilistic world, if your threshold for risk is only 9/100,000 death per year (~225 per year) then I feel sorry for you.
Checked three websites, all three show that the countries you listed have lower death rates than Qatar
I didn’t say exact, they fall in the same range, 1/2 difference in >10 death is basically the same.
You could check the numbers in Wikipedia or search for statics in pdf format from country that is comparing its number to other countries.
I drive over 30k km a year. Only had a single accident. A stupid expat pumped into me because she was driving according to the laws from back home even though it is illogical and not the norm around the globe.
Here is about twice europe and usa.
The cool thing about facts that they are true whether you agree/like with it or not.
Qatar has a “death rate” of 14 compared to 11.4 for the USA, 4.7 for Germany, and 3.7 for the UK. The winner, however, is Niue, an Island country affiliated with New Zealand with a death rate of 68.3. There are only 1,190 people on this Island, which raises the question how they achieve this number. Source: WHO (http://gamapserver.who.int/gho/interactive_charts/road_safety/road_traffic_deaths2/atlas.html)
Driving like animals
That’s a real ‘head in the sand’ answer… Like saying Qatar is a horrendously polluting country per person, but hey, there are only 300,00 of us, so that’s ok !
Wow, such ignorance -_-. Definitely not a scientist/engineer. The number I used (9 death people per 100,000 people per year) does NOT depends on people (they cancel out) thus it doesn’t matter the population it is like percentage/ratio. Also these numbers have nothing to do with nationality it is calculated for the entire population of that country…
Why don’t you say that for you this is simply normal? where do you put your islamic behaviours demanded by islam. Is this way of driving, non respect accepted in islam? NO
its not the vehicle who kill………….its the person behind the wheel kills…. as i observe some land cruiser drive like in a grand prix racing…and they always want to be lead…. which might cause other driver to had an accident.
Dead people on the road is really not a story anymore.
How about;
“Family of Four in Nissan Tiida Make it Home Alive From Najma to Doha Jadeed”
This is a sad incident, but it doesn’t have to happen again.
Either reduce the speed limit on these roads, or follow the lead of Karwa taxi: put a GPS tracking system which will keep the driver and the company in constant link, the company put a speed limit that the driver mustn’t cross, warn and penalize the driver when it crosses the speed limit.
If it works for the Karwa taxi, I am sure it will work for all the private transportation for private companies.
Not sure how this accident happened, but a general comment. The drivers of white vans full of people generally drive way too fast, I’m sure the brakes on those things, especially when they are full, will not do them much good in an emergency stop situation. Answer to this would be a speed monitoring system, as available in many countries. Van/bus drivers need to be constantly lectured to drive carefully, and have respect for their passengers and fellow road users.
Sad day for all concerned. Seeing though how packed these minibuses often are and the speed and way some are driven, there could have been a lot more dead. Do the drivers of these vehicles need to go through any special training? Often been passed by them on the Salwa Road coming into Doha full of people, no doubt under pressure rushing to get to work on time. Maybe a lower speed limit for these vehicles and more frequent safety checks.
Nope, they drive them just like they do back home. I understand that India has the worst road traffic stats. in the world. Having been there a few times, I can believe that.
Wonder what would happen if they were wearing seat belts???
I could be wrong here, but I think no place in the world, with the possible exception of the Scandinavian countries, has seat belts for passengers on buses/min-vans…
Wrong, it’s a European standard
Did not know that. Thanks for the heads up!
All small buses in the U.S. are required to have lap belts, too. The states of New York, New Jersey, and Florida have their own laws requiring lap belts on all school buses. Do school buses have seat belts in Qatar, too?
I stand corrected. Thank you.
As far as I know, school buses don’t have seat belts.
Australia and New Zealand as well.
All minibuses and coaches registered on or after 1 October 2001 (whether they carry child or adult passengers) must have forward-facing or rearward-facing seat belts.
http://www.rospa.com/road-safety/advice/vehicles/in-car-safety-and-crashworthiness/seat-belts-law/
It’s not easy to maintain the 100km/hr speed limit in these route when somebody on your tail speeding and flashing head lights… you have to increase your speed to find a gap on your right with a convoy of trailers and dump trucks so that you can give a way to the speeding vehicle behind you…very sad to see a colleague, “kabayan” lying on the road life less…may their soul rest in peace….
“you have to increase your speed to find a gap on your right with a
convoy of trailers and dump trucks so that you can give a way to the
speeding vehicle behind you”
Of course not. if someone behind you is annoying, you can ignore them, or slowly break and find a safe gap there.
Paalam sa yo, Kabayan, isa kang bayani sa ating lupang sinilangan at iyong pamilya
(Good to you my fellow countrymen, you are a hero to our country and your family.)
Ang buhay OFW (Overseas Filipino Worker): nagpapakalayo sa pamilya, para lang mabigyan ng magandang kinabukasan sila..
(A life of an OFW: leaves his/her family, just to give them a better future.)
Fact: Driving is bad here, like it or hate it. The consequences speak for themselves. Those who would argue otherwise, think this happening to you or your close ones.
Anyway the driving mentality apart from being inhumane is a non-islamic behaviour exhibit (islam demands respect of others by the way), be it we are in islamic country!
Saudi is by far a winner on this matter? anyone can confirm
I am the one who is the relative of Giri raj khanal I call this nepal embassy 100 time no body pick up the phone they are telling lie they haven’t any responsibility.but I appreciate this company