UAE: 13 students, 1 teacher injured as 2 school buses collide on E311

Thirteen students and a teacher were injured after two school buses were involved in a collision on Monday, the first day back to school for students across the country after the long Eid Al Adha weekend. The incident occurred along the national highway E311 around 3pm.

The National Ambulance said it had received an emergency call at 3.11pm on June 9 about the incident. Emergency medical teams were on the scene in 13 minutes, attending to casualties. The injured students were aged between 6 and 12 years.

In its initial tweet, the authority stated that the accident took place on Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Road in Sharjah. However, it has since retracted the tweet. Khaleej Times reached out to Sharjah Police, who also confirmed that the incident did not happen in Sharjah. Further details are awaited.

Tragic incidents, safety measures

Incidents of this scale tend to be few and far between in the UAE. In February last year, three students and two supervisors sustained minor injuries when a school bus made a sudden turn, causing it to drift and collide with the pavement.

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In August of the same year, a tragic accident led to the death of a seven-year-old student and injuries to 11 others when an illegal transport vehicle carrying 12 students, beyond the permissible passenger limit, swerved on a Dubai highway and flipped over.

The impact of the swerve caused it to crash into an iron barrier and overturn in a sandy area on the side of the Hatta-Lahbab Road.

Authorities regularly issue warnings about road safety, urging motorists to adhere to traffic rules and avoid speeding. Stringent penalties are in place with fines ranging up to Dh200,000 for serious violations.

In Dubai, school bus operators and transport companies are mandated to provide drivers with comprehensive training to ensure student safety. In Sharjah, cameras and safety devices were installed in as many as 2,000 buses to allow parents to monitor their children as they travelled back and forth to school.