Boy found dead in sewage manhole

ras al khaimah — A six-yearold Emirati boy died in Ras Al Khaimah after falling into a sewage pit at his family’s residence on Thursday evening.

Responding to an alert about a missing boy, the Ras Al Khaimah Police rushed to the family’s home and found the boy dead in a partially open manhole.

The boy — identified as Rashid Hamad — was last seen playing in the courtyard of their home before he went missing, his uncle Sultan Rashid said. “Upon noticing that her son was not around, Rashid’s mother called her husband, who then brought his brothers to help find the boy,” he added.

As they looked around the house, they went to the sewage pit that was under maintenance. “They looked into the sewage hole twice but found nothing,” said Sultan.

When the Civil Defence and rescue teams arrived, they thoroughly searched the area for an hour before going back to the sewage hole.

“This time, they did not just look into it but used a long stick. As they were moving the stick, it hit something that was floating in the surface. It turned out to be the body of the boy, who had drowned in the sewage hole,” Sultan said.

Rescue teams lifted the boy out of the hole and paramedics immediately tried resuscitating him. However, he was declared dead on the spot at around 8pm. It was a tragedy that shocked and devastated the family. Rashid was their only child.

The boy was last seen playing in the courtyard of their home before he went missing.”

Sultan Rashid, boy’s uncle

“Relatives, neighbours and friends mourned the boy’s death as they took part in a late- night funeral,” Sultan said.