Four killed in Mesaieed road accident

Four expatriates — two Filipinos and two Nepalese — died and four others were injured, two of them critically, in a road accident near Mesaieed yesterday morning.

The dead and injured have been identified as employees of a construction company.

According to the embassies of the Philippines and Nepal, the deceased were Ysrael Villamarin Cenina (37), Reymel Anonuevo Manalo (22), both Filipinos; and Ram Prasad Rajbamssi and Girija Khanal, who were Nepalese. Their bodies were kept at Al Wakrah Hospital morgue.

The accident occurred in Al Kharrara, a place which connects the highway between Salwa Road and Mesaieed. Several photos of the accident site being circulated on social media show bodies thrown out of a white vehicle flipped over in the middle of the road, while hard hats of construction workers, mobile phones and other belongings lie scattered.

Several trucks and SUVs are also seen near the accident site. The cause of the accident is not known.

Emergency services including an air ambulance of Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) was flown to the scene to apparently transport the critically injured to Hamad General Hospital (HGH).

Two Nepalese in critical condition and are being treated at the Trauma Intensive Care Unit (TICU) of HGH, a community source said. Two Filipinos — Bernard Macasukit Teves and Christopher Colitano Cleofe — were treated for minor injuries and discharged from the hospital.

The victims were on their way to work in Mesaieed in a van rented by their employer IMCO Engineering and Construction Company, a Philippine embassy statement said.

"A vehicle accident occurred around 7.30am today (yesterday) in Mesaieed. Two Filipino nationals were declared dead while two others were hospitalised with minor wounds and were eventually discharged from the hospital after undergoing treatment," it added. [The Peninsula]

Photos by Irfaan Raskin