DUBAI, 29 September 2004 — Confusion and resentment reigns over conflicting reports of the number of casualties in Monday’s collapse of a huge steel-mesh cage for a wall at an expansion project at Dubai airport. Workers stayed away from the site yesterday seeking what they called “a correct estimation of the casualties.”
An initial official news blackout about the incident came under fire in the local media, which suggested it had led to false rumors that Osama Bin Laden was behind the collapse.
Three Asians injured in the collapse remained under intensive care at a Dubai hospital along with a few others recovering from injuries. All others were discharged after treatment.
The Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) continued an intense investigation into the causes for the collapse of the steel cage for the wall of a concourse which is being built as part of a third terminal at the Dubai International Airport.
Initial finding of the investigations was that a crane carrying girders smashed into the steel cage at midmorning on Monday; however, the final report is not expected for several days.
Officials said five people, four Pakistanis and one Indian, were killed in the accident, and 12 were injured, but others said up to eight people died and 45 injured.
Initial rumors spoke of a massive explosion and a building collapse that immediately led to suggestions that it was an Al-Qaeda attack.
Writing in the Gulf News, Duraid Al-Baik, an editor, criticized the authorities.
“The blackout led to rumors. The first rumor: A massive terrorist attack. The death toll was huge. Seventy people had been killed and 150 trapped under tons of concrete,” he wrote.
“It is too early to pinpoint who is responsible for the accident, but it is necessary to condemn the information blackout enforced by the Department of Civil Aviation and its contractor.”
The department took several hours to issue a statement on the incident, he pointed out.
“In today’s world, the modernity of a country is measured by its transparency of information, especially during such incidents. The authorities should have allowed journalists access, rather than issuing a press release,” Al-Baik said.
One London radio presenter asked if the government was trying to hide the number of casualties. Another question was if there was a hidden morgue where bodies had been kept because reliable sources had claimed 70 people had been killed.
Conflicting claims were made about the actual death toll.
Unidentified representatives of the design contractor, Dar Al-Handessa of Lebanon, and of the main contractor, Al-Naboodah Laing O’Rourke, said eight workers were killed and up to 45 others were taken to hospital, the Associated Press reported.
A police official quoted in the local press also gave the same figure. However, the DCA, the only body authorized to issue statements on the incident, did not update the casualty numbers yesterday.
The Indian and Pakistani consulates said they could confirm only the five deaths. The dead Indian was identified as Prem Sagar Hans from Karnataka. The Pakistani consulate said it did not yet have the proven identity of the four Pakistanis who died.
A few batches of the company’s workers went to the site of the crash yesterday to cut the mangled steel and clear the wreckage. Others did not report to work saying they demanded “a correct estimation of the casualties” and “swift clearance of the wreckage” before resuming work. The dispute was expected to be settled today.
Workers said there were heated arguments among some of those who had set out to work yesterday morning. They were dissuaded by the others following an unconfirmed report that one of the workers got a call from an unidentified worker purportedly still trapped under the steel debris.
One of the workers said the phone call might have come from a worker who was stranded in the makeshift restroom near the construction site. The company declined to make any comment.
