A delivery driver, who recklessly rode across a pedestrian crossing on his motorcycle to take a shortcut, allegedly triggered a series of events that ended in the death of three pedestrians.
The Bangladeshi man is on trial at the High Criminal Court accused of the manslaughter of three cooks who were walking home after finishing their shift at a nearby restaurant on Sehla Avenue.
It was 3am on March 14 when the accident took place. The defendant claimed that he was ‘rushing home to eat Suhoor’ - a meal that Muslims in Ramadan enjoy before the start of a day’s fasting.
The court heard that his sudden illegal manoeuvre in the path of a car led to its driver having to swerve to avoid him and accidentally crash into the three bystanders.
Two of the victims died on the spot – 43-year-old Sundor Miah from Bangladesh and 38-year-old Muhammad Idrees from Pakistan. Their colleague 24-year-old Mir Emdadul Islam from India succumbed to the injuries he suffered four hours later in hospital.
The defendant is facing seven charges at the High Criminal Court, including causing the victims’ wrongful death, inflicting disabling injuries on the man driving the car, and also injuring his three passengers.
He faces three hit-and-run-related charges: not stopping to aid the victims, despite having the ability to, and not reporting the accident to the emergency services.
He was also charged with property damage, driving in a direction opposite to traffic, posing a threat to lives and property, and to the safety of pedestrians utilising the sidewalk.
“It was 3am when the suspect drove across the pedestrian crossing, in front of a vehicle, which veered off course to avoid colliding with him,” the Public Prosecution stated.
“The car veered to the left lane and its driver lost control of the steering, leading the vehicle to drift outside of the road, climb the kerb, hit a bus stop sign and three pedestrians who were propelled forward by the force and then fell.
“The vehicle continued in its path, striking a wall and a mini-bus parked on the kerb.
The defendant kept on riding his motorcycle and did not stop.
“Two of the pedestrians instantly died from their injuries, while a third died in Salmaniya Medical Complex at 7am. Several people in the car were also injured and taken to hospital.”
Mr Miah’s injuries were horrific, the court heard. The coroner recorded in his autopsy that the accident shattered his skull and caused a deep wound in his abdomen.
The Bahraini driver suffered fractures to his jaw, spine, hips and legs and has had to undergo a series of emergency surgeries.
Initially, he was considered to be the prime suspect in the case, but was ultimately not charged after investigators ascertained that the tragedy was set in motion by the delivery rider’s actions.
Investigators uncovered the true circumstances by diligently looking through CCTV footage captured by security cameras and were able to track the motorcycle and where it was headed, ultimately identifying and arresting the defendant, judges heard.
The Bangladeshi admitted being involved in the incident but denied fleeing the scene or being responsible for a ‘hit-and-run’ as he was unaware of the repercussions of his actions.
He testified that he was leaving Jeblat Habshi and heading to a restaurant where he worked in Ain Al Dar. To ‘save time’, he took the short-cut, as he wanted to have a meal before ‘fajr’ prayers and the beginning of his fast.
The GDN earlier reported that a stunned friend of the fatally injured victims said the trio had been walking home to shared accommodation, which was only a few minutes away from the restaurant where they worked. They were all good friends and had just finished their late shift.
A verdict is set to be issued by the court on April 28.
zainab@gdnmedia.bh
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