4 Filipina nurses killed in Qatar road crash

An eight-month pregnant Filipina nurse working with Qatar’s Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) was among four people killed in a road accident near Al Khor. Another Filipina, Claryvil Miranda, a 34-year-old Indian nurse from Kerala, Danny Thomas, and their male Sudanese colleague, Mohammad Nasruddin Ahmad, 36, were also killed in the tragedy, around 45km from Doha. At least 10 persons, all HMC employees, were injured, some of them critically, in the crash, Qatari daily The Peninsula reported on Tuesday. The victims work for Al Khor Hospital and were being driven in a minibus from Doha to join the morning shift. Mohammad was in charge of the Nursing Department of Al Khor Hospital. Article continues below Tyres burst According to the daily, the accident happened between 6am and 6.30am when the vehicle sharply veered from the road and turned turtle after one of the tyres burst. The driver, Mohammad Bashir, an Indian from Kerala, suffered fractures on his right shoulder and is undergoing emergency medical care. One of the injured, a Tunisian, was described by doctors to be in a very critical condition and was in the HMC trauma intensive care unit. The five others who were also critically injured have their vital signs intact and they are being treated at the HMC emergency trauma unit. Investigated The HMC confirmed the death of four of its employees and said in a statement that the cause of the accident was being investigated. “We are in contact with the families of those involved in the tragic accident,” the statement said. The pregnant Filipina nurse who perished in the crash was identified as Marianne Cabuay. She was to deliver her second child. Her only child is studying at the Philippine School Doha (PSD) and the school’s Parent-Teachers’ Association said they would be raising funds for the bereaved family. The husband of the second Filipina victim had been admitted three days before the accident in HMC’s intensive care unit for some serious illness, the daily said. Miranda died on the spot, whereas Cabuay succumbed to her injuries at the emergency trauma unit. Unlucky Danny Thomas, the Indian female nurse who leaves behind her son and husband here, was reportedly unlucky as informed sources said that she was supposed to travel in another minibus but since it was packed to capacity, its driver urged Mohammad Bashir, the driver of the ill-fated vehicle, to accommodate her in his van. Faisal, an Indian working as a cashier at the emergency unit of Al Khor Hospital, said he travelled in the minibus from Doha every morning, but fortunately, his shift was changed on the accident day.