Gulf News Daily

Bahrain, Jun 5: HEARTLESS drivers refused to stop as a father screamed for help, cradling his dying seven-year-old son in his arms.

Sayed Mouzan was fatally injured when a car ploughed into him and his family as they shopped in the Manama suq, at around 10pm on Saturday.

His 39-year-old father Sayed Arif, mother Yasmen Taj and brother Sayed Aslam, nine, escaped with minor injuries.

They were waiting for a take-away pizza ordered from nearby.

"We had just come out of Gold City after getting gold bangles for Yasmen, when the children decided to have a pizza," a grief-stricken Mr Arif told the GDN yesterday.

"We went into Pizza Hut, paid for the pizza and then decided to step out again, in spite of the attendant there telling us to sit inside."

He said he then went to the adjoining Bombay Restaurant to buy bread for himself and his wife.

"As I approached Yasmen and the kids, I saw a car facing the wrong way on the one-way street, revving with a loud noise.

"As I reached them, I could sense that the driver was looking to move on, so we stood on the side waiting for him to pass."

Mr Arif said the car suddenly hurtled at them at "breakneck speed".

"I tried to get out of the way, but was hit," he said.

"A split second later, Yasmen and Aslam were hit but Mouzan failed to get out of the way. His head was crushed."

Mr Arif said he ran and picked up Mouzan, shouting for help.

"We were all hysterical and screaming and many people gathered there," he said.

"The car driver tried to make a getaway but was prevented from doing so. He came out of the car, screaming, 'I am a Bahraini. Don't touch me'.

"Someone said he had called the police, but my main concern was to get to the hospital as soon as possible. Someone else shouted that an ambulance had been summoned.

"As I screamed in pain and grief, I tried to flag down several cars, but no-one stopped.

"Nearly 15 minutes later, a Pakistani gentleman stopped and helped us into his car, to drive to the Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC).

"I was in pain, my wife was screaming and Aslam was hysterical when we reached the SMC.

"Mouzan was rushed to the emergency room, but was declared dead."

Mr Arif said that, he, his wife and Aslam were then told to first sit in the waiting area and then moved from one room to another.

"I don't know what they were doing, but what I do know is we were herded like cattle," he said.

"We were in pain. We had just seen our son dying. Is there no sympathy? Are doctors and others so heartless?

"We were not told what we should do. The trauma was unbearable. This is the worst treatment I could imagine a human being would get."

Mr Arif praised the driver who took them all to hospital.

"He was an angel. He was with us till 2am and went around talking to the doctors and other staff. My colleagues and their families also turned up and were with us all along. I was really touched with their gestures," he said.

Mr Arif said the car which hit the family was facing the wrong way on a one-way street.

Witnesses told the GDN they saw the car plough into the family.

"The family were just standing on the roadside. The car came from the opposite direction and hit them all," said one.

Mr Arif came to Bahrain in February this year to work as assistant sales manager at the Bahrain Aluminium Extrusion Company.

His family joined him only on May 10.

"We were all looking forward to our stint in Bahrain and my wife was particularly excited. We are completely shattered now," he said.

The family left last night for their native Bangalore, with Mouzan's body.