FUJAIRAH // The village of Bithnah is mourning the deaths of three men killed when a lorry and two cars crashed into the town cafeteria.
The lorry driver and two cafeteria workers died in Thursday's crash near a highway intersection, while three others were injured.
Two of the injured men are likely to remain in hospital for several days. The third, a 27-year-old from Nepal, was released yesterday.
Moideen Abbas, the restaurant manager, said friends and relatives were collecting the thousands of dirhams needed to repatriate the bodies of the dead cafeteria workers to Bangladesh and India.
The people of Bithnah, shaken by the crash, gathered on Friday to pray for the victims.
"It's just a bad coincidence," said Abdul Khader Mohammed, 24, a resident of Bithnah who was at the site minutes after the crash occurred. "Everyone is shocked. Last night it was like this was a different town. We know every one of the cafeteria workers personally, since we were kids."
"We feel really very bad," said his sister Farah, 22. "We are always remembering the faces of these men."
The Indian lorry driver, 36, had not had a driving accident in 10 years, said Sudharshan Peethambaran, 52, his supervisor and passenger who suffered a skull fracture and facial lacerations.
Mohammed Jakis, 27, from Bangladesh who was injured in the accident, said he did not consider the intersection dangerous.
"I go on this road two or three times a week and there has never been a problem before."
Fujairah Police said the case had been forwarded to the public prosecution.
