An additional four bodies were recovered from the Dubai Drydocks as rescue teams led by frogmen from the Dubai Police resumed their operations for the third consecutive day on Friday.
The latest recovery of bodies brought the death toll to 26 in the accident that occurred at dock-2 on Wednesday morning when a gate ruptured and water flooded the dock.
Brigadier Sharafuddin Hussain Mohammed Hussain, Assistant Commander in Chief of the Criminal Investigation Department at Dubai Police, told Gulf News three more people were still unaccounted for. He said that the search operations were conducted in coordination with UAE Armed Forces and Dubai Civil Defense.
"The problem which is encountering our divers and rescuers now is that the pollution and the existence of the heavy equipment in the bottom of the dock where we expect to find some bodies seized by equipment and machines sunk there," he said.
"The bodies of the workers who died in the accident will be handed over to their families or to the embassies representing their countries. The police is awaiting a clearance from the public prosecutor who is still conducting investigation in the case," he said.
Brig. Sharafuddin stressed that whether bodies had to be flown to the victims home countries or buried in Dubai, the police needs to finalize certain formalities and get clearance from the public prosecutor in order to hand over the bodies of the deceased workers.
He said the investigations into the causes of the accident were still underway.
Seven workers were still undergoing treatment at Al Baraha and Rashid hospitals. None was in critical condition and medical sources at the two hospitals believe that they will be discharged in a week.
Technical sources from the drydocks said that draining the dock from the sea water would need two weeks before work could resume in the dock. Other docks will resume work as usual. (Albawaba.com)
