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Mates

10th September 1976
Page 17
Page 17, 10th September 1976 — Mates
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

DAVID BARNES, the British driver in jail in Jeddah after an accident in which six Arabs died, is being kept supplied with food and cigarettes by other drivers in the area.

Another driver who was near the scene of the accident at the time told CM this week that Kuwaiti newspapers say that the accident is likely to cost E80J100 per dead man for compensation.

The driver — who asked that his name should not be published — told how the accident happened: "A Cadillac with the Arabs in it was passing a Toyota car and he hit the front of David's Volvo and went under the front ripping the bumper off and breaking the axle and then spun off the road and burst into flames.

"The truck went the other way off the road and stayed on its wheels; he was lucky."

On Monday the truck was reported to have arrived in Oldham with its front axle ripped from the chassis for repair. The truck was almost new and had only completed one Middle East run before the accident.

Since the accident, which happened near Medina, Mr Barnes has been moved from the primitive desert jail in the town to the more modern prison at Jeddah to be nearer the acting British Consul.

The driver said that two weeks after the accident he passed the spot again. The Volvo truck's tilt had been broken open and the load of building material looted.

He said that he heard from drivers in Germany who had been in Jeddah that 30-year-old Mr Barnes from Wigan was in reasonably good physical condition and was being given food and supplies by other drivers.

The supplies are being collected from drivers and passed to Mr Barnes in his prison cell.

Last week Mr Barnes' employers, RF Interport Movements of Leigh, Lancashire, would make no comment on the situation but referred all callers to the Foreign Office.

Tags

Organisations: Foreign Office
People: DAVID BARNES
Locations: Jeddah

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