Muscat: Three young Omani photographers died in a road accident, while another was battling for his life, after their vehicle crashed into a parked truck on Friday morning.

The accident occurred in Izki province, 100km from Muscat, around 3am.

The deceased were identified as Mohammad Al Nahdi, Omar Al Abadi and Oman Al Adawi.

Sami Al Rahbi, the driver, is still in critical condition at Nizwa hospital due to severe injuries to his head and chest.

The young men were on their way back to Muscat after a photo shoot in Duqm on Thursday, according to their relatives.

Ayoub Al Abadi, Ahmad’s brother, told Shabiba daily newspaper he was in contact with his brother on the way back to Muscat but suddenly Mohammad’s phone switched off.

“Mohammad and his friends refused to spend the night in Duqm, 590km from Muscat. We got a call around 7am on Friday that Ahmad had an accident. When we rushed to Nizwa hospital we found he had passed away along with his two friends,” he said.

Saif Al Siyabi, Mohammad Al Nahdi’s uncle, said Mohammad had dinner with his family last Tuesday.

“It’s a big loss for the whole family. He was supposed to have his wedding party next February. He was a very nice and noble person,” he said.

Al Braa’ Al Adawi, Oman Al Adawi’s brother, said the last time he saw his brother two weeks ago. “It’s very tormenting and painful. Rest in peace my brother,” he said. Tributes to the deceased photographers have been pouring in on social media platforms under an Arabic hashtag which translates to “the demise of the elite Omani photographers”.

“Oman lost some of its greatest photographers. Rest in peace guys,” wrote Shaima.

“Our hearts are wrenching and bleeding for such big loss,” said Sultan Ali. Other users called for stringent action against owner of the parked truck.

”The owner of the truck should be punished and held accountable for parking it on the side of the road,” said Layla Al Wahaibi.

Figures from the National Centre for Statistics and Information show 692 people were killed in road accidents in 2016, compared to 975 in 2015.

Speeding and wrong overtaking have been cited as the main causes of road accidents in the country.