22 Killed in Collision: Road Accident Second Cause of Death in UAE

As of Monday, at least 22 people were killed when a truck laden with gravel collided with a bus transporting 46 Asian migrant workers in the oasis town of al-Ain in the United Arab Emirates, according to police. 

The truck driver lost control of the vehicle, landing on top of the bus and trapping the passengers inside, under a cargo of gravel, according to police of the incident.

Twenty-four people were injured, at least five critically, according to officials from two hospitals in al-Alin. The police did not disclose the nationalities of those who had died, but Dubai-based Gulf News daily reports that they were mostly from Bangladesh.

The death toll per capita among UAE roads is among the highest in the world, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 3,000 people die on the world's roads every day and several million are injured or disabled each year. One hundred and twenty-four people die in car accidents per hour and hundreds are becoming severely disabled and injured. In addition, the cost of accidents is approximately 600 billion to governments in different economies.

However, as mentioned previously, one spot  in particular infamously known for its roadside problems is the UAE. Per 100,000 people, 32 will die in a car accident according to 2002 statistics released by the WHO. That's strikingly different from the 4 per 100,000 experienced in the UK. This demonstrates, according to the WHO, that residents of the UAE are seven times more likely to die in a car accident than those in the UK and several other areas. In fact, road accidents are listed as the second major cause of death for those in the UAE. And worse, the primary cause of death for children in the UAE is also car accidents. The Health Authority of Abu Dhabi (HAAD) shows that 63 percent of deaths in the UAE are caused by Road Traffic Accidents, with causes for the accidents ranging from lack of sleep and fatigue to tire explosion.

Though recent incidents prove disheartening for area residents, future studies help to futher address the concerns of the area.