Expatriate dies as van on Route to Salalah Hits Camel

A 50 year old Indian expatriate was killed in a freak road accident on way to Salalah on Tuesday night. Mohammed Ali Poyil was working at a bakery shop in Barka for the last few years.

The van in which he was travelling hit a camel, lost balance and turned upside down leading to his death on the spot.

The incident took place in Marmul in Dhofar governorate. His body was shifted to Sultan Qaboos Hospital Salalah.

As per a study conducted by Dhofar University, it was found that most road accidents in the governorate occur mostly at night and mainly involve livestock crossings. Visitors need to take extra care while driving around with high level of livestock-related road accidents reported from the region in the past. Salalah-Taqah, Salalah-Thumrait and Taqah-Mirbat roads were reported as the main locations for livestock-vehicle accidents.

The study showed that 40.6 per cent of the participants had an accident where animals were involved resulting in monetary damages (to 37.8 per cent of the participants) and causing health problems (33.9 per cent).

Dhofar accounts for 60 per cent of all camels and 57.8 per cent of cattle of the total livestock in Oman.

With the increasing number of vehicles driven by tourists who are not familiar with the area and the hazards of livestock crossing, more accidents are likely to occur, suggests the author of the study Dr Ahmad Abu Abdo, Department of Civil and Infrastructure Engineering, American University of Ras al Khaimah, UAE.

Dr Abdo was chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Dhofar University in Salalah when the study was conducted in 2015.

Due to the rainy season during the summer in Dhofar, owners relocate their livestock from the surrounding mountains, especially camels, to the outskirts of Salalah near the main highways. “The main reason for such action is to avoid injuries and possible financial loss of their livestock due to unstable wetlands and landslides,” the study found.