Two maids drown in resort pool

The Fujairah Police are investigating the death of two housemaids, African and Asian, who drowned in a swimming pool of a tourist resort in Dibba Fujairah on Monday.

The women were accompanying two children of their Emirati employee — a three-year-old boy and his two-year-old sister — who were rescued by a foreign tourist.

The boy, Salmin Al Amri, was airlifted from Dibba Fujairah Hospital to Al Tawam Hospital in Al Ain, where he was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit. Brigadier Mohammed Ahmed bin Ghanim Al Ka’abi, Commander-in-Chief of the Fujairah Police, said the police received information about the accident around 5.45pm.

Police patrols, Criminal Investigation Department officials and ambulance moved to the scene and the victims were given first aid before being taken to the Dibba Fujairah Hospital. Doctors did their best to save them all, but the two domestic servants breathed their last, said Brigadier Al Ka’abi.

Officials from the Dibba Fujairah Public Prosecution examined the bodies of the maids and ordered to conduct an autopsy.

The Public Prosecution also ordered the arrest of the hotel manager and summoned the director general of the resort for interrogation.

The official also said he had requested the competent medical entity to furnish the public prosecution with a detailed report on the condition of the boy.

The Emirati family from Al Ain reached the resort the same day. The parents left their children with the housemaids and went to the room to take rest.

They blamed the resort management for the incident, saying that there were no lifeguards at the swimming pool.

A family member said minutes after the father of the children entered their room, he heard a scream coming from the swimming pool. Coming down, he was shocked to see the bodies of the housemaids floating on the water, and his son Salmeen in a very bad condition.

The man said he learnt that his son was rescued by a foreign tourist, who also saved his daughter. The girl was in panic after the incident, he added.

Since the beginning of this year, five drowning accidents claimed six lives in Fujairah, two of which were in swimming pools. A Syrian young man lost his life in a swimming pool at the Tennis Club, while a Pakistani and an Emirati died in Al Wuariaa Valley. Another accident took place in the sea off Dibba where a 17-year-old Emirati drowned.

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