A routine drive to university turned fatal for a 21-year-old Indian student in Dubai . Naifa Balkies Hameed’s car got a flat tyre and she was allegedly struck by a speeding vehicle while waiting for assistance on the roadside.
What happened?
Gulf News reported that it had sought an official response from the police. He advised her to contact roadside assistance and take a taxi after the vehicle was towed. About five minutes later, Binu tried calling his daughter again. She did not answer. The family later received a call from Dubai Police informing them that she had been in a fatal road accident. She reportedly died at the scene. The family was informed that the driver had been arrested. Dubai Police has not yet publicly commented on the incident. Naifa had recently travelled to Kerala with her family for a wedding. Her father, brother, sister-in-law and uncle remained in Kerala at the time of the accident. “Her father is a car enthusiast, and the family owns several vehicles. She was friendly with everyone, especially young children.
Her uncle said she had been driving since she turned 18 and was comfortable handling different vehicles. Because of lack of roadside safety, they now hope her death will raise awareness about the dangers faced. Because she did not want to miss university classes, while several relatives stayed back for another family event, she returned to Dubai with her mother, Serena,. Because he was in Kerala,” he said, on the day of the accident, she was driving her brother’s car, which had not been used for several days.
Her family said the accident occurred just minutes after she spoke to her father about the flat tyre. Naifa called her father, Binu Hameed, while driving to university to inform him that one of her tyres had gone flat, according to relatives. Naifa’s uncle told Gulf News that the police told the family she was standing behind her vehicle on Al Khawaneej Street when a speeding vehicle hit her. Her uncle while remembering her said, “She remembered the birthdays and wedding anniversaries of everyone and made a point of sending cards and gifts.
Balkies Hameed, an architecture student at Canadian University Dubai, died on Thursday after the crash in Dubai’s Al Rashidiya area. Naifa’s family returned from Kerala to Dubai on Friday after learning about her death. Once authorities completed documentation and repatriation formalities, her body was flown to India on Saturday night. She was laid to rest on Sunday at a mosque in her hometown Thodupuzha in Kerala.
Relatives described Naifa as an experienced driver despite her young age. Friends and relatives gathered at Dubai’s embalming centre to pay their final respects before her remains were transported to Kerala.
They had moved to Dubai primarily to support Naifa’s higher education, according to the family’s statement to the Gulf News.
Her father, a businessman, had previously travelled frequently between Saudi Arabia, the UAE and India and then finally settled permanently in Dubai.
