AL AIN // Five men were injured, two critically, in two separate car crashes yesterday morning.
An Emirati man was badly injured in a head-on collision with a bus that left him with a broken leg and collapsed lungs. Four South Asian labourers were also hurt when their vehicle rolled over in the Malagit District.
One of the men suffered serious head injuries and had to be airlifted to Tawam Hospital to have emergency surgery.
Col Mohammed al Amri, head of public safety and emergency services in Al Ain, said that the cause of the crash was still under investigation.
"The patient that arrived by air ambulance suffered severe head injuries, including skull and facial fractures and had a brain haemorrhage," said Dr Joseph Mana, Tawam Hospital's emergency room chief.
"He also suffered a broken arm, clavicle and rib." The Emirati man was not wearing a seat belt, Dr Mana said.
"During the impact his chest was crushed, collapsing both his lungs," he said. "He also suffered a compound fracture of the femur." Dr Mana described the number of serious accidents in Al Ain as "troubling".
"Motorists need to drive more responsibly, slow down and wear their seat belts," he said. Two weeks before Ramadan, an Emirati family of eight was involved in a crash near Tawam Hospital in which a mother, her eight-year-old daughter and an infant were killed.
Al Ain Police have said the number of traffic-related deaths and injuries dropped by 35 per cent during the first eight months of this year compared with the corresponding period in 2009.
Col Hamad al Balooshi, head of the Al Ain Traffic Police, said that during this period last year there were 121 fatalities compared with 78 this year. He credited the reduction to an increase in police patrols.
ealghalib@thenational.ae