Fujairah police confirm deaths in truck crash, give no toll and ask the public not to share one

The crash happened shortly after midnight on Thursday, 12 November, on Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Street at the entrance to Fujairah, when a truck collided with several other vehicles. The Fujairah Police General Command confirmed it later that day. Its statement said the accident caused "a number of deaths and injuries" and gave no exact figure for either. It also gave no count of the vehicles involved and no cause.⁠4⁠3⁠5⁠15

Police, ambulance and civil defence teams went to the scene once the crash was reported. They gave first aid and took the injured to hospitals, which have not been named. Security units cordoned off the area and controlled traffic so rescuers could work and other drivers stayed safe. No diversion route or reopening time for the road has been published.⁠15⁠13⁠9⁠11

The first official word on who died came from India, not the UAE. The Consulate General of India in Dubai confirmed that Indian nationals were among the dead and said it is helping their families. It has given no number.⁠6

Onmanorama, an outlet based in the Indian state of Kerala, reported that three Malayalis, people from Kerala, were killed in what it called a "trailer-car crash." That is the only specific death figure published so far. It needs reading with care. It covers one group of victims, not the full toll. No UAE official source has confirmed it. And it was published after police had asked for exactly this kind of figure not to be spread.⁠9

The accounts also describe the crash differently. Police describe a collision between a truck and a number of vehicles. The National's headline speaks of a lorry and several cars. The Kerala report frames it as a trailer and a car. These accounts may not conflict, since a crash involving several vehicles can include a trailer hitting a car. But until police say how many vehicles were involved, nobody outside the investigation can settle the question.⁠7⁠4⁠9

The police appeal makes some sense. The warning names nationalities alongside numbers, and the reason is not hard to work out. Families should hear from officials before a figure or a nationality reaches them through a forwarded message, and an unverified toll can be wrong in either direction. The Interior Ministry's version of the appeal tells people to rely on official channels and avoid unverified information. That is reasonable, provided the official channel then says something.⁠6⁠12

So far, it has said very little. When the official source gives no number, others fill the gap, and here they filled it with a partial count from abroad. The consulate's statement shows that the most sensitive detail, the victims' nationality, could not be held back for long. That was not defiance. A government was speaking about its own citizens. But it means the information police wanted to control is already public in part, and the full official picture is still missing.

The relevant authorities have opened an investigation into how the crash happened. No cause has been stated. Police used their statement to urge motorists to keep a safe stopping distance between vehicles, and Al Khaleej reports a broader call to follow safety rules. This is a standard appeal, and police have not presented it as a finding about this crash. Khaleej Times described it as Fujairah's second crash in two days. The material we reviewed gives no details of the first, and nothing suggests the two are linked.⁠3⁠4⁠7