Mystery of the US Embassy Car Accident Still Veiled [Archives:2001/06/Front Page]
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February 5 2001
A source at the US Embassy in Sanaa said that the investigation officers of the embassy refused to report the US Embassy Car accident of last Tuesday as a normal car accident, due to the fact that there were earlier reports of a suspicious vehicle moving around a housing complex for American residents along with other factors. The accident took place in western Sitteen Street, northwest of Sana’a, when the Yemeni driver of the US embassy car tried to avoid crashing into another car, causing his car to smash into the sidewalk and rollover twice until it came to a halt upside down. It was reported that the other car escaped the scene following the crash. The accident led to the death of Moharram Fuad Al-Asbahi, a Yemeni security officer at the embassy and the injury of the driver Mohammed Al-Naami. A Yemen Times correspondent was at the scene of the accident and reported the aftermath of the horrible incident.
A YT reporter was able to experience the aftermath of the accident and took pictures of the victim and vehicle and said that during the aftermath of the accident he could hear many people shouting the American has died. He was able to take a picture of a white, in fact, blonde man covered with blood. The US Embassy denied that an American was in the car and indicated that the victim was one of the Yemeni security guards working at the Embassy and he was identified as Moharram Mohammed al-Asbahi. On the other hand, no news about the other car causing the accident was reported. The traffic report indicated that the rolled over car was in good condition after the accident, ruling out the suggestion that a technical fault could have led to the accident. YT visited the driver, Mohamed Al-Naami, at Azal Hospital where he is still receiving treatment. Al-Naami said that there was a car, probably a minibus, trying to block his way and while escaping a crash, the car he was driving rolled over. He said that he could not identify the number of the car. The accident comes at a time the US decided to review its security measures to ensure more protection for US diplomats in Yemen after the failed hijacking attempt of the Yemeni airplane that was supposed to carry the US Ambassador along with a US delegation to Taiz around two weeks ago.
