LEAD: 4 Japanese, 1 Pakistani killed in traffic accident in Abu Dhabi+

CAIRO, Aug. 13 Kyodo -
(EDS: ADDING INFO AT 3RD GRAF)
Five people including four Japanese nationals were killed in a traffic accident
in Abu Dhabi, an emirate in the United Arab Emirates, on Wednesday, according
to the Japanese Foreign Ministry and media reports.
A minivan carrying four Japanese men slammed into the back of a trailer truck
around 11:45 p.m. Wednesday, killing all four and their Pakistani driver. The
ministry said the accident occurred in Tarif, a town about 100 kilometers
southwest of the city of Abu Dhabi, the UAE capital.
The four Japanese were later identified as Tsunemi Osawa, 62, Akimasa Umemoto,
58, Makoto Hama, 55, and Atsushi Kuramasu, 51, by the Japanese Embassy in the
UAE.
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.
They 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 driver of the trailer truck, also a Pakistani, 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 20:56:26