Dad of 5 killed in crash says 'they chose their fate'

The Saudi father of five who were killed in a road accident just after crossing the UAE border into Saudi Arabia said they chose their fate when they insisted on going for a holiday in Dubai in a car on their own.

Ismail Al Bashri, director of the Saudi Al Jouf university, said he had planned to take all the family in his GMC four-wheel car but his sons insisted on having their own car.

“They took the Lexus and I took a BMW. We agreed that my son Mohammed would drive the Lexus,” he said, quoted by Ajel newspaper.

“On the way back from the UAE, I was driving ahead of them with my wife and kept looking through the mirror to make sure they are fine. Suddenly, I could no longer see their car and saw several civil defence and police vehicles rushing to the area. My heart sank and I had a feeling something wrong happened to my children.”

He said that he drove back to the accident site and that his feeling was confirmed when he saw that his children’s car was totally damaged and four of them were dead.

“Only the little one, Sultan, 10, was still alive. We rushed him to the hospital but he died just minutes after he was admitted,” he said.

Al Bashri, former director of Sharjah university, said he collapsed at hospital and was admitted to the intensive care unit but that his wife was strong. “She remained calm and restrained her feelings. She said it was God’s will and we should all accept it.”

Press reports said last week Al Bashri’s three sons and two daughters, aged between 10 and 22 years, died after a truck rammed into their car in eastern Saudi Arabia just after they crossed Al Batha border point from the UAE.

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