Three people were also severely injured in the incident on Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road. Officers said the bus, driving a route between Muscat, in Oman, and Dubai, crashed into an overhead sign.
The driver of the bus, believed to be in his 50s, survived the crash and is receiving treatment for his moderate injuries at Rashid Hospital. Dubai Police Chief Maj Gen Abdullah Al Marri described the crash as a tragic incident.
He said: Sometimes a simple error or negligence during driving leads to serious consequences, as happened this evening, and resulted in the deaths of 17 people of different nationalities.
Mwasalat, a government owned bus company in Oman, said the crash happened at 6pm local time on Thursday.
Mwasalat family expresses its deepest condolences to the families of the deceased and wishes a speedy recovery to the injured. The service has now been suspended until further notice.
Police previously stated that 15 of the 31 people on-board the bus had died in the crash. They later corrected this to 17, confirming that two more passengers, including an unnamed woman, had died.
Dubai Police said the general directorate of Dubai Police extends its sincere condolences to the families of the deceased in the unfortunate accident.
Fiona Geraghty, from Co Dublin was killed during the Dubai Airport bus crash.
She had been taking a year long career break with her boyfriend, when the bus crashed into an overhead sign on Thursday.
She was travelling with her boyfriend, also a teacher in his 20s, when the disaster unfolded.
He was left with serious injuries and suffered internal injuries, but is recovering at Rashid Hospital.
Fiona and her boyfriend, were about to extend their stay in Dubai for another year.
They had both had been teaching at the School of Research Science in Al Warqa, Dubai.
Fiona’s parents were in Lanzarote celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary when they got the call yesterday that their pride and joy was gone.
She was a lovely, bright, young, intelligent girl, who loved life. I’m just devastated. I feel for her family, I’m numb.
Police Chief Maj Gen Abdullah Al Marri said people lost their lives because of a simple error or negligence during driving.
Officials later said the bus drove straight into a low-clearance sign, forcing the sign to sweep straight into the driver's side of the vehicle.
He is among seven passengers, and the driver, recovering from their injuries at Rashid Hospital.
His condition is believed to be stable.
The bus, which had 31 passengers on board, was travelling from Oman to Dubai when it crashed into the height restriction sign while come off a main highway.
Dubai police said that the incident occurred on Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road.
The government-owned bus company Mwasalat, expressed their condolences.
It said in a statement: "Mwasalat family expresses its deepest condolences to the families of the deceased and wishes a speedy recovery to the injured."
The bus was full of holidaymakers returning from Oman after the Eid holidays when it crashed on Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road around 6pm local time.
Relations were said to be desperately trying to get information on passengers' conditions from Rashid Hospital officials.
Police said that the unfortunate incident is being investigated, and thanked the competent authorities involved for helping at the scene.
The force said after the tourist bus collided with a directive sign, the bodies and the injured have been transferred to authorities.
Dubai Police added: "The general directorate of Dubai Police extends its sincere condolences to the families of the deceased in the unfortunate accident.
The Oman-registered bus was carrying passengers between Dubai and Muscat.
The bus drove straight into a low-clearance sign in the Rashidiya district.
The Consulate General of India, Dubai, tweeted that eight Indians had died in the bus crash.
Tourism Observer
