Fourteen Killed, 30 Injured in Fujairah Pile-Up Involving 23 Vehicles

Fourteen people were killed and 30 others were injured in a pile-up in Fujairah, the Interior Ministry of the United Arab Emirates said on Thursday, Nov. 12. The ministry gave the toll as preliminary information, in a statement reported by Reuters. Emergency and specialised teams were still dealing with the aftermath of the accident as the ministry issued its update.

The scale of the crash

The accident involved 18 vehicles and 5 trucks, 23 vehicles in total, according to the figures the ministry gave and Reuters reported. That count explains the size of the casualty toll the ministry announced. For every person killed, more than two others were injured, and the ministry put the injured at 30 in the same preliminary count. The ministry said the figures were preliminary, so the toll it announced on Thursday is the toll as officials first confirmed it, not a final count.

Where the pile-up happened

The crash happened on Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Road, the main entrance to Fujairah, according to reporting by Madhyamam. A truck lost control shortly after midnight and triggered the pile-up, Madhyamam reported. The road is the main entrance to the emirate named in both accounts, and the time given in that reporting puts the first impact in the early hours of Thursday, hours before the ministry confirmed the toll in public.

A family among the dead

Three members of a family from Kerala were among the dead, Madhyamam reported. It named them as Mohamed Asmi Siddique and Misna Jubin Siddique, twin siblings who were 21 years old, and their nephew Muhammed Faiz, who was three years old. Their names are the only victims identified in the reporting behind this story. Fujairah Police urged the public not to circulate unverified claims about the victims, their nationalities or the casualty figures, and this report names only the three people a named outlet has identified.

Investigation and official warning

Fujairah Police have opened an investigation to establish the cause of the crash, Madhyamam reported. The Interior Ministry expressed condolences to the families of the victims and wished the injured a speedy recovery. It also urged the public to rely on official sources and to avoid circulating rumours or unverified details about the accident. That warning, and the police appeal on claims about the victims, point to the same problem officials often face after a mass casualty crash: early numbers and names move fast, and the ministry has said plainly that its own preliminary figures are the confirmed starting point.

What officials have not yet given is a final toll, a confirmed cause, or a full list of the dead. The investigation will decide the cause. Until police or the ministry update the count, the confirmed position stays where Thursday reporting left it: 14 people killed, 30 injured, 18 vehicles and 5 trucks involved, emergency teams still at work on the aftermath, and a police investigation under way.