A ROAD rage incident on the King Fahad Causeway allegedly sparked a Saudi man to drive his car into a lawyer after they later clashed on the highway.
Abdulla Suleiman Alkheliwi, also from Saudi Arabia, died two days later from the horrific injuries he suffered. A 24-year-old has been charged with his manslaughter and is facing trial in absentia.
The late Mr Alkheliwi was driving home from Bahrain with his brother on the morning of the incident which took place on December 3, the High Criminal Court heard.
An initial argument erupted when the impatient defendant reportedly scratched their car while trying to jump the queue at the immigration counter on the Bahraini side of the causeway.
A car chase ensued between the late Mr Alkheliwi and the defendant resulting in his Lexus colliding into the defendant’s Hyundai Sonata.
“My brother got out of the car and stood in the right-hand emergency lane waving a wooden plank in his hand,” Mr Alkheliwi’s 28-year-old brother told the Public Prosecution.
“The defendant crashed into him at very high speed and I saw him fly into the air,” he recounted, adding that his brother hit the roof of the defendant’s vehicle and subsequently fell to the ground, knocking his head on the hard asphalt.
The sibling, a businessman from Hafr Al Batin near the Kuwait-Saudi border, went on to tell prosecutors that the defendant fled the scene and continued his journey to Saudi ‘at an insane speed’.
According to the Interior Ministry’s medical report, Mr Alkheliwi suffered multiple fractures to the skull and face, injuries to brain tissue and severe internal bleeding in the brain.
The court heard that a King Fahad Causeway Authority security employee stopped during his routine patrol after he spotted a cluster of cars parked in the emergency lane adjacent to Umm Al Nassan Island and a man standing on the metal railing between the two roads, waving frantically.
“I saw the victim lying on the side of the road, bleeding profusely, so I called police and an ambulance,” the 38-year-old Bahraini told prosecutors.
“Then I headed to the operations headquarters and informed all causeway personnel of the defendant’s licence plate in an effort to stop him.”
A 25-year-old Saudi bystander who witnessed the incident unfold told prosecutors that he saw the victim bleeding from his nose and mouth and called the emergency services.
The defendant could not be present at the hearing as he is barred from leaving Saudi Arabia, the court was told. His lawyer submitted a letter sent to the Saudi authorities to lift the travel ban so that the defendant could hand himself over to Bahraini police.
Judges said they would record a verdict on the case on April 11.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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