Car mows down pedestrian?in RAK

A 30-year-old Asian man, identified as SA, died after a car mowed him down on Shaikh Rashid bin Saeed Road in the Khiran area of Ras Al Khaimah on Wednesday morning. According to a senior traffic police officer, the victim was run over by the speeding car while he was crossing the road, and he died on the spot. The speeding driver, after losing control over the steering wheel while trying to avoid the pedestrian, veered off the road, jumped onto the other side of the road, and hit a car coming from the opposite direction. He sustained minor injuries. “The mishap resulted in the victim’s instant death, as well as the injury of three Emiratis, including a young woman, who were travelling in the vehicle coming from the opposite direction,” said Col Abdullah Ali Mankhas, Director of RAK Traffic and Patrol department. “The injured, identified as AR, 26; AS, 21; and AM, 19, received minor to medium wounds,” he explained. “Both vehicles involved in the accident were almost destroyed.” The ambulance and rescue teams, as well as traffic police patrols rushed to the scene, and shifted the injured passengers and the body of the pedestrian to Sager Hospital. Ras Al Khaimah has seen a significant drop of 50 per cent in the number of traffic accidents last year. As per recent statistics, the emirate saw 316 accidents in 2011 as compared to 615 in 2010. “These involved 56 deaths last year as against 61 in 2010,” said Col Mankhas said.