DOHA: Investigations into a tragic road accident in which five Filipinos died near Hamad International Airport on October 6 reveal that the Qatari who caused the mishap was driving at a high speed and he had no licence.
Also, the insurance coverage of his vehicle had expired on August 6, 2014, two months before the accident, according to the ambassador of the Philippines to Qatar, Crescente R Relacion (pictured).
Records of the Traffic Department of the Ministry of Interior suggest that the vehicle the Qatari was driving was involved in as many as 44 traffic rule violations in 13 months, from August 22, 2013 to September 26, 2014.
Relacion told reporters yesterday that the embassy of the Philippines got the report of the accident prepared by Qatar’s Ministry of Interior on October 8, 2014 and it gave the above details.
The remains of the five Filipinos who died in the mishap have already been sent to the Philippines, said Relacion.
The bodies of Bencris Rivera (36) his wife Joycelyn Torres Rivera (38) and one year-old son Arclian Zirc Torres Rivera, and Marilou Cal (27) were sent home last Thursday while the remains of Joyce Geli (24) were sent home the next day.
The reason why the remains of Geli was sent the following day was because “there was a problem with the name of the consignee so the representative of Specialised Medical Centre in Riyadh (the employers of Geli) decided the shipment be deferred the next day so they would be certain of the person to receive the remains in the Philippines,” he said.
The accident report said: ‘Driver A (the indictee) was driving his vehicle near Hamad International Airport towards East sticking to left track of road.” The driver “hit with front cabin of his vehicle B (where the victims were) which was on the side road thereby it led to fringing of both vehicles to a distance of 104 metres approximately continuing to left side once again hitting to curbs leading to smoldering of vehicle B with five persons inside who died on the spot and injury of the other one inside the smoldered vehicle. The indictee driver had some injuries and was given aid by Hamad Emergency. It was found that the indictee driver had no driving licence and the accident triggered the abovementioned damages.”
A relative of Bencris from the US and two brothers of Joycelyn from the Philippines came to Doha courtesy of Louis Berger, the company where Bencris was working as an engineer. They have spoken to a lawyer on the course of action they would take.
“They want to seek justice, meaning whatever punishment the law provides for the person concerned should be meted to out to the person,” he said.
“We will monitor the progress of the case and we will hire a lawyer to really focus on the case especially the criminal aspect. The representatives of the families of the victims have spoken to a lawyer recommended by the embassy who will concentrate on the criminal aspect of the case.”
Based on the law of Qatar, the family of each of the deceased will receive QR200,000 as blood money. The family of the deceased, however, has the option to file further civil damages on top of the blood money, he explained.
He also assured the Embassy will provide assistance on the follow-up of the payment of the blood money and if the family decides to file further civil damages the Embassy can also recommend a lawyer.
“To the next of kin of the victims of the tragic accident that claimed five lives, our deepest condolences again from the Philippine Embassy, the Philippine government and the Filipino community here. We condole with you at this very difficult time.”
He urged the Filipino community in Qatar to “exercise extreme caution when we are on the road either as a driver, passenger or as a pedestrian because accidents may happen anytime.” “I hope there would be more vigorous campaign to inculcate the culture of safety amongst the people-drivers, passengers and pedestrians. Qatar has one of the highest rates of accidents per capita in the world, so it’s sad to learn about these accidents every now and then involving not only Filipino nationals but other nationalities as well.”
The Peninsula
