A Filipino truck driver faced a United Arab Emirates (UAE) court on Monday for accidentally running over and killing his Pakistani workmate, a report of the news site Gulf News said on Tuesday.

 

However, the Filipino, 45, denied being responsible for the accident, saying his workmate was not supposed to be under the truck he was operating.

 

The accident happened while off-loading containers from a vessel at the Jebel Ali Port.

 

A forensic doctor said the victim died due to a smashed skull and severe bleeding.

 

Court reports said the incident happened when the Filipino was parked in a trucks’ queue while waiting for instructions to load off containers from vessels and transfer them to trucks.

 

The driver said he received a text message from the control center on the built-in computer device on the dashboard.

When he was instructed to move to another spot, he felt that the tires of the trailer ran over "something."

When he looked down, he realized it was his workmate.

"I had no clue on how the victim stood there, but I guess he was recording the serial numbers of the containers that were loaded off the vessels," the driver said.

 

The court is to reconvene on July 23 to watch the footage of the port’s surveillance cameras.

 

The prosecutors accused the Filipino driver of reading instructions on a built-in device on the truck’s dashboard and failing to see his 23-year-old Pakistani workmate.

 

They added that the Filipino failed to carry out his work properly and failed to adhere to safety and precautionary measures.

 

However, the Filipino pleaded not guilty and denied negligence on his part. - VVP, GMA News