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Oman police say 18 killed, 14 injured in bus crash Oman police say 18 killed, 16 injured in bus crash
(about 3 hours later)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A bus crashed into a truck and a car in western Oman early on Tuesday morning, killing at least 18 people and injuring 14 others, police said. DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A bus traveling through western Oman’s desert crashed into a truck and a passing car later slammed into the wreckage early on Tuesday morning, killing at least 18 people and injuring 16 others, police said.
Authorities received first word of the crash near the Nahdah area on the road connecting the cities of Fahud and Ibri around 1 a.m., Oman police spokesman Mohammed bin Salama al-Hashami said. He said officials still were not sure what caused the collision, though the dead included Saudis, Omanis and Asians. Authorities received first word of the crash near the Nahdah area on the road connecting the cities of Fahud and Ibri around 1 a.m., Oman police spokesman Mohammed bin Salama al-Hashimi said. Fahud and Ibri are cities west of the capital, Muscat.
He said the 14 hurt in the crash had injuries ranging from serious to minor and had been transported to hospitals throughout the sultanate. He said those hurt in the crash had injuries ranging from serious to minor and had been transported to hospitals throughout the sultanate.
Fahud and Ibri are cities west of the capital, Muscat, in the Omani desert. Omani police later issued a statement via Instagram saying their initial investigation led them to believe the bus and the truck had a head-on collision at a traffic roundabout on the road, while the car later crashed into the wreckage. Police officers from Muscat arrived at the scene via helicopter, while workers with Petroleum Development Oman also aided rescuers, authorities said.
Oman is a country on the far east of the Arabian Peninsula. Its neighbors include Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen. Police said six of the dead were from Oman, four were from Saudi Arabia, two were from Pakistan and one was from Yemen. Five others were still unidentified. Among the injured, 11 were from Oman, two were Saudis, one was Pakistani, one was Chinese and one remained unidentified, the police said.
Traffic crashes are not uncommon in the Gulf states. Many drivers speed on long desert highways and large populations of foreign guest workers are a source of motorists who have come to the country with differing driving habits.
In February 2013, at least 22 migrant workers died when a gravel-filled truck with faulty brakes rammed into a bus near in Al Ain, an Emirati city on the Omani border. In May the following year, 15 migrant workers died in a bus crash in Dubai.
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Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.