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Pruthivi Rajan and his wife Vineesha.

20 injured as bus returning after Eid holiday trip hits divider on Dubai-Al Ain Road. 

A young Indian couple and their family friend were killed on the spot when a mini bus crashed into a divider on Dubai-Al Ain Road in the early hours of Saturday. Over 20 people, including children, were injured in the accident.

The victims were part of a group of families from Al Ain who were returning home after an Eid holiday trip to Fujairah and Khor Fakkan.

The deceased have been identified as Piruthivi Rajan, an IT technician with Al Sanawbar School in Al Ain; his pregnant wife, Vineesha; and Koshy Dhamodharan, a pharmacist.

The deceased couple left behind their seven-month-old son, Vipin Raj, with a broken leg, a family friend told Khaleej Times.

"The baby’s right leg is fractured and operated (on) ... He is in Tawam Hospital along with the other injured," said Selvaraj Daniel, who was in another bus.

Dhamodharan’s wife and two children also received serious injuries.

Rajan’s grandmother in India passed away yesterday after hearing about the tragedy, Daniel said.

He said all passengers hailed from different parts of the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu and were friends through the Evangelical Church in Al Ain.

Over 60 people had gone for the trip in three 30-seater mini buses on Friday morning. While two of the buses reached Al Ain, the third one met with the accident just a few minutes before reaching its destination, said Daniel.

According to him, the accident took place near Al Ain Dairy Farm around 1.30am on Saturday.

An injured man, Vivek, whose three fingers on the left hand had to be amputated, said he was sleeping when the accident took place.

"I woke up hearing this loud noise of something banging against our bus," he said over the phone from his hospital bed. "Suddenly, I realised the bus was skidding to the left side ... It rammed against the road barrier and crashed on ... the other side of the road. All this happened in just a few seconds.

"I was sitting parallel to Piruthivi’s seat on the right side. I heard him screaming ... ’everything is gone’. I had managed to hold on to the seat with my right hand and was trying to balance my body with my left hand. After the bus crashed, glass pieces pierced ... my hand ... Most injuries and deaths were because of injuries caused by glass pieces," Vivek said.

Several motorists stopped their vehicles and helped. "The motorists who stopped after seeing the accident helped us a lot in rescuing the injured and giving them first aid."

Police and paramedics rushed the victims to Tawam Hospital.

Khaleej Times could not get the comments from the police. However, an Indian Embassy official said the police have detained the driver of a car that hit the bus, which made it skid and crash into the divider.

Dinesh Kumar, first secretary (Community Affairs) at the embassy, said he and other Embassy officials visited the victims at the hospital on Sunday.

"It is a very tragic incident that has affected many families. The biggest tragedy is that the baby has been orphaned after the couple died. We are offering all support for repatriating the bodies. We are in touch with the families through the Indian Social Centre. The bodies are likely to be sent to India in one or two days," said Kumar.