Dubai Road Crash: Life limping back to normal for survivors

Life is slowly returning to some sort of normalcy for the workers whose colleagues were killed in the horrific road accident on Dubai-Al Ain Road on Saturday.

A visit to the camp site of the labour supply company in Umm Al Quwain reveals a strange sense of bravado among the men who say come what may, life goes on.

Many of those who have travelled from foreign lands in search of life and livelihood are the only breadwinners of their dependents back home.

They narrate tales of a life full of poverty and indebtedness before they came to the UAE, and believe their continuation here is their only hope for a better life for themselves and their families.

They still do not know how the families of those who were killed in the accident will be able to cope and move on, but have fond memories of their colleagues who are no longer with them.

Alum Gir Badshah, 32, was one of those killed and the only earning member of his family. “He had not gone to Bangladesh to even see his two-year-old child. It was his second baby. He was hoping to get back soon to meet his little darling,” says Mohammed Mohsin Dali.

Badrul Hassan was also among the four Bangladeshis killed in the accident. “His family is in a bad situation. He has a 12-year-old child who is spastic. It has been a struggle for them all along. It is going to be even tougher now,” he adds.

Most of camp workers who had not attended work since the day of the accident say they might now get back within the next few days.

“The more we remain here [in the camp], we are haunted by the thoughts of our friends who died. It is better to get back to work,” he says, looking longingly at the beds and belongings of the men who died.

The dishevelled beddings continue to remain the way their occupants left them on Saturday. They’re in some way symbolic of the life of the survivors, which seems to have come to a standstill at the camp.

“We are all still in shock and disbelief, but life has to move on. Our company owner has told us that we can take our time. Many of us have families who only survive on the money that we send them every month,” says Dali.

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