5 including 4 Japanese killed in traffic accident in Abu Dhabi+

CAIRO, Aug. 13 Kyodo -
Five people including four Japanese nationals were killed in a traffic accident
outside Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, on Wednesday,
according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry and media reports.
A minivan carrying four Japanese men and their Pakistani driver slammed into
the back of a trailer truck around 11:45 p.m. Wednesday. The ministry said the
accident occurred in Tarif, a town about 100 kilometers southwest of Abu Dhabi.
According to JGC Corp., a plant engineering company based in Yokohama, three of
the Japanese were employees of the firm and the fourth was an employee of JGC
Project Services Co., a group firm also based in Yokohama.
The four had been involved in the construction of a natural gas processing
plant in the UAE for a few months, according to JGC. Their names have not been
released, but according to a related party, three of the men were in their 50s,
while the fourth was in his 60s.
The four had dinner earlier in the evening in Abu Dhabi and were being driven
back to their lodgings near the construction site when the accident occurred.
Local police in Tarif told Kyodo News in a telephone interview Friday that they
arrested the Pakistani driver of the trailer truck on negligence and other
charges.
Gulf News quoted a traffic accident investigator as saying the four Japanese
men were dead when emergency workers arrived and the driver succumbed to his
injuries on the way to hospital.
It quoted another traffic official as saying the driver of the truck pulled out
into traffic without checking for other vehicles. The minivan was dragged 25
meters because the trailer driver did not feel the impact of the crash,
according to the report.
==Kyodo
2010-08-13 19:38:16