Fourteen People Died When a Truck Caught Fire in a 23-Vehicle Crash at the Entrance to Fujairah

Fourteen people were killed and dozens were injured after a truck driver lost control and hit several vehicles in Fujairah, in the United Arab Emirates, the interior ministry said, according to the BBC.

The accident involved 23 vehicles, including five trucks, and happened at the entrance of the eastern emirate in "slow-moving traffic" just before midnight, the ministry said in a statement. Officials said the truck collided with another vehicle before overturning and striking others that had stopped because of the slow traffic. The impact caused "the truck to catch fire and the blaze to spread to several other vehicles, resulting in a heavy loss of life," the ministry said.

Thirty people were injured and taken to hospital, Fujairah Police said, adding that DNA tests are being used to identify the bodies of the victims. Some of the dead were Emirati nationals, the police said. The Indian consulate in the UAE said its citizens were also among the deceased and that it had reached out to bereaved families and was working with local authorities to provide assistance.

Emergency services, including police, paramedics and civil defence, rushed to extinguish the fire, transfer the injured and secure the site, where specialist teams remained, the BBC reported. Half of the injured were discharged from hospital after receiving treatment, while the rest remained in medical care. Authorities said the nationalities involved were Emirati, Omani, Indian, Brazilian, Pakistani, Jordanian and Egyptian. The BBC account did not break down how many of the dead or injured came from each country, and it did not name a cause beyond the truck losing control in slow traffic.

Both the interior ministry and police expressed condolences to the families of the deceased and wished a speedy recovery to the injured. The statements quoted by the BBC did not assign blame, say whether the truck driver survived, or release a full list of the dead. Because Fujairah Police said DNA tests are being used to identify victims, names and a complete breakdown of who was killed may not be available immediately. Specialist teams remained at the secured crash site after the fire was extinguished.