At the funeral of the Indian siblings in Dubai on January 6, 2025. SUPPLIED

Grief swept through the UAE's Indian community as they mourned the deaths of four siblings killed in a recent car accident. Fourteen-year-old Ashaz, his 12-year-old brother Ammar, and younger brothers Azzam, 8, and Ayash, 5, were laid to rest following noon prayers on Tuesday (January 6), days after a fatal crash in Abu Dhabi’s Al Shahama area. Hundreds of people gathered at Al Qusais Cemetery in Dubai for the burial. Their father, Abdul Latheef, and mother, Rukhsana, both Indian nationals from Kerala, were injured in the accident, along with their 10-year-old daughter, who remains hospitalised but is now in stable condition. The family’s domestic worker also died in the crash. Three of the children died at the scene, while the fourth succumbed to injuries on Monday evening (January 5), compounding the family’s grief.

Community in mourning

Emotions ran high as relatives, friends and community members gathered to support the bereaved family. The children’s father, still recovering from injuries, attended the funeral seated in a wheelchair, his arm in a sling. “I have never witnessed a mass burial of children from the same family like this,” said a social worker present at the funeral. “It has been heartbreaking for everyone.” The family has been living in Dubai, and all five children attended Arab Unity School, a British-curriculum school in the emirate. Social workers said Dubai authorities expedited special approvals to allow the burial to take place in Dubai, even though the family’s residence visas were issued in Ras Al Khaimah. Arrangements are underway to repatriate the domestic worker’s body to India, in accordance with her family’s wishes. The accident occurred around 4am as the family was returning from the Liwa Festival, where they had gone with friends to enjoy the final weekend of the winter break. Abu Dhabi Police have yet to release full details of the crash. The tragedy has sent shockwaves through the Kerala community in the UAE, with friends, schoolmates and community organisations rallying around the family. ICA/Expat Media
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