Authorities warn of wadi dangers after four drownings
Authorities issued new warnings against driving in remote areas during storms after four people, including two children, died in flash floods on the UAE’s east coast this week.
Omar, 18 months, and Mathail Al Matroushi, 4, were among a dozen Emiratis reported missing in three separate incidents on Tuesday, when heavy rain led to flooding in Fujairah and Sharjah.
Authorities rescued eight people on Tuesday but the other four could not be found. The bodies – two young Emirati men and the Al Matroushi siblings – were found yesterday by teams comprising the National Search and Rescue Centre, Sharjah Police, Civil Defence and volunteers.
Al Matroushi children were in a car with their father and older brother, 6, when the vehicle was swept away in the valley at 6.50pm on Tuesday. The father and son were rescued the same day.
The two young Emirati men were with a friend when their car was engulfed up by the rushing water.
“Rescue teams managed to save one of them, who was standing on the car rooftop, and transferred him to Kalba Hospital, but the other two were found dead on Wednesday morning about 10 kilometres away near Wahala village,” said Hassan Al Mazroui, a resident of Wadi Al Helo and whose brother was involved in search-and-rescue efforts.
“The wadi becomes very dangerous during the heavy rain,” Mr Al Mazroui said.
A Emirati family of five were rescued in the third search after police received a report at 10.20pm.
Police warned residents to steer clear of wadis during bad weather and to not venture down roads that were closed to avoid further tragedy.
Farther south in Hatta, Dubai, a bus driver’s quick thinking saved his 20 passengers from potentially drowning after their vehicle was dragged off the road in a flood.
The bus was in the area near Umm Al Nasour mountain on
Tuesday when the road began to flood. The driver told the passengers to disembark and led them to higher ground.
Officers from Hatta Police Station were called to the area at 7.30pm and initially struggled to reach the bus, eventually using a quad bike to lead the group to safety.
They travelled down the mountain on a road at the edge of the valley, where police and civil defence and ambulance crews were waiting.
Four people, including two children, died after flash floods swept away three vehicles on the UAE’s east coast.
The National Search and Rescue Centre, with Sharjah Police, civil defence and scores of volunteers, set out to find 12 people reported missing in three separate incidents on Tuesday, when heavy rain caused flooding in Fujairah and Sharjah.
“The search-and-rescue teams managed to find eight survivors, including a woman in critical condition who was transferred to hospital,” Brig Abdullah bin Amer, deputy chief of Sharjah Police, said yesterday.
Rescue teams found four bodies – two young Emirati men and siblings aged 18 months and four years old. All of them had drowned.
The children, Omar and
Mathail Al Matroushi, were with their father and older brother when their vehicle was engulfed by floodwaters.
At about 6.50pm, police received a report that a car carrying a family of four had been swept away. The father and his six-year-old son survived.
“The father was rescued after sunset, and his daughter, about four years old, was found seven kilometres away by a farm worker,” said Hassan Al Mazroui, 27, a resident of Wadi Al Helo in Sharjah, whose brother was involved in search-and-rescue efforts.
“His second son, about 18 months old, was found dead on Wednesday,” Mr Al Mazroui said.
It was one of three reports received by Sharjah Police on Tuesday.
The earliest, at 5.25pm, involved three young Emiratis in a vehicle seen drifting in a valley where police had closed the road on safety grounds. Rescue teams found one survivor and two bodies.
“We saw the three young Emiratis trying to reach the valley from our neighbourhood, and residents tried to warn them, but they ignored the warning and kept driving,” said Mr Al Mazroui, an Emirati government employee.
“Water suddenly gushed down the mountain into the valley and washed their car away,” he said.
“Rescue teams managed to rescue one of them, who was standing on the car roof, and took him to Kalba Hospital, but the other two were found dead on Wednesday morning about 10 kilometres away near Wahala village.”
In another incident, five members of an Emirati family, were rescued after a call for help late on Tuesday evening.
“The mother, father and three children are all in good health,” the police said.
Mr Al Mazroui said more than 20 residents from Wadi Al Helo volunteered to help find the missing.
“We know the area very well, so we had to offer to help,” he said.
“All the people whot were swept away during the floods were from outside the village and not familiar with the area. The wadi becomes very dangerous during heavy rain.”
Police warned residents to steer clear of wadis and off those roads that were closed because of bad weather.
A rescuer who knows Wadi Al Helo well said the people who were swept away in the flooding were not familiar with the area