Bus crash kills 18, injures 16 in Oman

A road accident in Oman involving several vehicles has left at least 18 people dead and 16 others injured.

A bus, a truck and a four-wheel drive were involved in the road crash on Ibri Fahud Road, west of Muscat on Tuesday, police reported.

The bus,which was carrying 45 people of different nationalities, was headed from Salalah to Dubai when the accident occurred.

Initial investigations showed the truck driver lost control of his vehicle after a tire burst, causing it to skid off to another direction and ram into the bus.

Six Omanis, four Saudis, two Pakistanis and a Yemeni have been identified among those killed. Five others have not yet been identified, police said.

A Pakistani, eleven Omanis, two Saudis, and a Chinese were injured in the crash.

Over a dozen of the injured were rushed to the Ibri Hospital while the rest were transferred to Nizwa hospital where they are receiving intensive care.

Medics at Ibri Hospital said that the blood bank is facing shortage due to the high number of people severely injured. Hospital authorities called for urgent blood donation.

Traffic crashes are not uncommon in the Persian Gulf Arab states. Many drivers speed on long desert highways and many expatriates are working as motorists with their own driving habits.

In February 2013, at least 22 migrant workers died when a gravel-filled truck with faulty brakes rammed into a bus near in Al Ain, an Emirati city on the Omani border. In May the following year, 15 migrant workers died in a bus crash in Dubai.

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