By FAZEENA SALEEM
DOHA: At least two people were killed and many seriously injured in a head-on collision involving two minibuses and a four-wheeler at the intersection below the Ras Abu Aboud flyover on the Corniche yesterday afternoon.
Both the deceased were Sri Lankans, Sri Lankan embassy sources said.
Two other Sri Lankans were seriously injured and remain at the emergency unit of the Hamad General Hospital, said an embassy official.
The accident occurred at around 3.30pm. The rented minibuses were ferrying employees of the Doha Marriott Hotel in Ras Abu Aboud to their accommodation in the city.
In a statement from Dubai, a senior official of the hotel said “two buses carrying employees of the hotel were involved in an accident resulting in the death of at least one employee.”
The buses were involved in a forceful collision with a Nissan Patrol car, apparently coming from the Corniche side. The car caught fire.
The front side of the car and the buses were badly damaged, leading to fears that casualties could be more.
More than a dozen people in the buses were injured, some seriously, according to unconfirmed reports. All victims were taken to the emergency unit at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC). The Corniche area witnessed heavy traffic jam following the accident, as police, the HMC ambulance team and civil defence personnel launched rescue and firefighting operations. It took more than one hour for traffic to return to normal. The HMC air ambulance also took part in the operation, witnesses said.
The deceased hailed from Anuradhapura and Kurunakala districts of Sri Lanka, according to a source at the hotel.
The embassy has asked for documents to complete formalities to repatriate the bodies.
Affidavits from the spouses or close relatives certified by the Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry are required to take a decision on sending the bodies home, said the source. Details about other victims were not available until the time of going to press.
