All photos by Chantelle D’mello
A sea of dilapidated and rusted cars has enveloped nearly a square kilometer of desert outside Al Wukair, creating a final resting place for thousands of vehicles that used to cruise the country’s roads.
From high above, images on Google Maps make the rows of buses, pickup trucks and sports coupes appear structured and orderly.
The view on the ground, however, shows a far more chaotic cluster of abandoned, quarantined or confiscated vehicles.
Approximately a week after a video, shot from a camera mounted on an aerial drone, was posted on YouTube, Doha News went out to explore the property.
The site is located off Al Wukair Street and is composed of two yards. One is staffed and fenced off, holding vehicles that may still be claimed, while an adjacent open lot is home to vehicles being salvaged for parts. Together, the sites contain approximately 20,000 to 24,000 vehicles, according to an estimate of a security guard.
Some still have Coke bottles in the cupholders and personal trinkets such as clothes and key chains spilling out of the glove compartment, leaving the impression that they were deserted – or towed – in a hurry.
Others appear to have been meticulously mined for spare parts and have been left with their hoods stretched wide open, exposing the remaining components.
Elsewhere, the skeletal remains of vehicles void of seats, windshields and electronics are stacked atop one another, creating short columns of twisted metal and broken glass amid wafts of petrol.
A sign affixed to the fence cordoning off one yard says the area falls under the jurisdiction of the Mechanical Materials Management department of Baladiya, the Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning.
A security guard at the site said unclaimed cars and trucks can be sold to salvage companies, which will then strip the vehicles for parts on the property.
Unwanted cars, such as those completely totalled in collisions or those that have been picked clean of all useful components, are then taken to the outskirts of the property where they are left to be towed, collected or simply sit under the scorching sun.
Thoughts?
according to an estimate of a security guard.
Meaning he build a number out of his buttocks.
True. I wouldn’t personally rely on an estimate of a security guard. I am not even sure if he is literate and can count numbers correctly.
Do you mean you are not sure if he is innumerate or not or are you being ironic?
No I am not being ironic. My wife has a bachelor’s degree and if you ask her for an estimate of this size she won’t be able to have any logical answer and she will only give a random number. This security guard who has most probably limited education cannot be seen as a trusted source of information for this kind of things. There must be a record with Baladiya to check the numbers.
I was hoping you were being ironic, that would have been funny.
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Illiterate: A person unable to read or write
Innumerate: A person lacking basic knowledge of mathematics and arithmetic.
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I believe this is where baladiya dump all the totalled & dusty cars they’ve been taking off the streets from all over qatar in the last few months
Wondered where Land Cruisers go to die…
actually most of used Qatari land cruisers and toyotas in general are bought from second hand markets and exported to iraq or yeman
This looks like Salwa road
From Al Wukair, as you drive to connect to Salwa-Mesaieed Road, is 3-4 km far, on the right side
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=25.118399&lon=51.472878&z=15&m=b
I often wondered why people just abandon cars in Qatar, but soon realised that some just couldn’t stand it any longer and got an exit visa to go on vacation and never came back….
I thought drones were banned in qatar…according to Doha News at least
The photos weren’t taken by a ‘drone’.
referring to the video and a comment by DN earlier
Yes, I understand. They have misused the word ‘drone’. Not blaming them, much of the media have taken to misusing the word over the last few years.
UAV?
The images were taken by a radio controlled hobby aircraft, or radio-controlled plane, as they have been called for about 4 decades now. It is line of sight and doesn’t have any intermediate signal relay stations and most importantly, no autonomous control functions. I have no idea where the misuse of the word ‘drone’ came from, even the military doesn’t use it for UAVs.
http://rcflightline.com/drones-vs-radio-controlled-aircraft-a-look-at-the-differences-between-the-two/
Recycle and Manufacture a Qatari brand of cars!
I guess that’s a good way to reduce the population and free up the roads and flats.
Unfortunately “This video is Private” – whatever that means… ??? so why can’t I see it? Very puzzling.
can you buy parts from this place ?
or any one know a place to get a GM ls3 engine and gearbox for a low price like Qr 3000 or 5000
i am from INDIA can i do business in salvage cars