6 Chinese Workers Die in UAE Road Accident -- china.org.cn

A serious road accident in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), on Thursday killed seven workers from the China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC), including six Chinese and one Indian, Shao Jijiang, assistant general manager of the company, said yesterday.

The six Chinese who died in the accident came from east China's Shandong and Jiangsu provinces. They were all contracted workers of the company and had insurance both in China and abroad, said Shao. He did not tell details about the Indian.

The accident also injured 30 others with six Chinese and one Indian seriously wounded, said Shao. And the seven severely injured workers have been out of danger by press time.

It was raining while the accident occurred at 6:20 AM Thursday. The bus hired by CSCEC to pick up its workers turned over to one side because of speeding and collided with a minibus running in the opposite direction after knocking off the partition block, according to the company.

Fifty Chinese and foreign workers were on the bus then.

The bus was hired from ZAMZAM, a local bus leasing company, and the driver is also from that company.

The driver told the police that the accident was caused by slippery road and his lack of experiences. The driver and his company will take the responsibility.

CSCEC has 23,300 Chinese employees abroad. The accident is the most serious for the company since the Algerian earthquake that caused death of nine Chinese workers four year ago.

(Xinhua News Agency December 16, 2006)