Gulf Today

Arab baby girl critical after drowning at home

- Mahmoud Mohsen, Staff Reporter

SHARJAH: The security teams at the Sharjah Police are probing an incident where an 8-monthold Arab baby girl drowned in a bathtub in her parents’ flat in the Emirate. Efforts are on to bring her back to life at Al Qassimi Hospital Sharjah.

The Operations Room of the Sharjah Police, on Thursday evening, received a report that the girl had drowned in a bathtub in her parents’ house, and instantly the national ambulance was dispatched to the site of the incident.

The paramedics provided the baby girl with first aid at the scene, by performing cardiopulm­onary resuscitat­ion (CPR). She was then admited directly to the intensive care unit (ICU) at Al Qassimi Hospital in Sharjah. The baby is still undergoing treatment at the hospital, as her condition is critical, according to medical reports. As she was submerged in water for a few minutes she suffered brain damage, the doctors said.

Investigat­ions showed that before the incident, the baby was accompanie­d by her mother to the bathroom, but the later had to leave her for a few minutes in the bathtub, which was full of water. It was also said that the girl could not stay afloat on the surface of the water and drowned in the mother’s absence.

The Buhaira Comprehens­ive Police Station is continuing the investigat­ion into the incident to find out its circumstan­ces.

Recently, a 17-year-old Emirati boy, Abdulaziz Marawan Al Shehhi died ater he drowned in the sea in the emirate of Ras Al Khaimah.

Abdullah Mohammad Al Shehhi, the uncle of the drowned young man, explained to Gulf Today that the deceased, a ninth-grade student, was accompanie­d by a number of his cousins and one of his uncles. The victim was the youngest among the cousins.

“We went to the coast of the Rams area, about 12 kilometres north of Ras Al Khaimah, where strong waves came while we were swimming, so all of us got out of the water, but Abdulaziz was swept away by strong currents and he drowned,” he added.

According to the victim’s uncle, the young man was pulled out form the water by rescue teams. He was transferre­d to Saqr Hospital in Ras Al Khaimah, where every atempt to save him went in vain. He was declared dead at the hospital.

Earlier, a 5-year-old UAE national, Zaid Saeed Ahmed Al Shehhi, who had been rescued from drowning off a beach in the city of Ras Al Khaimah, near Al Maahad beach, died 51 days ater being admited in the intensive care unit in Al Qasimi Hospital in Sharjah.

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