Five Filipinos burnt to death in road crash

Five expatriates, all of them reportedly Filipinos, were burnt to death when their car caught fire after being hit by another vehicle near the Hamad International Airport (HIA) on the Corniche-Wakrah highway yesterday.

A Filipina was severely injured in the incident that happened between 12.30pm and 1 pm, sources said. The woman was reportedly a co-passenger of the victims.

The names of the victims were not known even though sources in the Traffic Department confirmed that the deceased were Filipino expatriates. There were reports of a child being among those killed but it could not be confirmed.

The other vehicle involved in the accident was driven by a young national who escaped with minor injuries, it is learnt.

A Philippine embassy official, who visited the Hamad hospital mortuary, told Gulf Times that all bodies had been charred beyond recognition.    “The bodies have so badly been burnt that even the gender of the deceased could not be verified. Forensic examination would be required to identify the victims,” he said.

It was also not known whether the victims were going to the airport to see someone off  or to receive someone.

Soon after the accident, the authorities deployed police personnel and more than 15 vehicles at the site for relief operations.

Sources at the Hamad hospital said the mortuary had received five bodies, all victims of an accident from “somewhere” near  HIA.

On Sunday morning, a Qatari national and two others were killed when two cars collided near the  Halul Cafe, opposite the new museum under construction, along Corniche. A Bahraini and Iranian were the other victims.