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UAE: 6-year-old drowns after falling into water tank in Al Ain home, Al Khaleej reports

The mother was watching her children play outside when she briefly lost sight of them; she then heard her daughter scream that her son had fallen into a hole

Published: Fri 7 Nov 2025, 11:13 AM

Updated: Sat 8 Nov 2025, 8:14 AM

A 6-year-old boy was found drowned in the water tank in his home at Al Ain. According to Arabic newspaper Al Khaleej, the boy, named Issa, was playing with his sister in their house compound when the tragic accident occurred. 

The child’s father, who is an imam and Quran teacher at the local mosque, told media that he had left home just an hour prior to the incident. “Issa and his sister Maryam had been playing outside the house, and I was with them,” he said. “When it was time for me to leave for work, I brought them into the courtyard and closed the gate so they wouldn’t go out.”

He said that less than an hour later, his wife phoned him crying that Issa was dead. “I rushed home and found out from my neighbours that Issa had been taken to the hospital,” he said. “When I reached the hospital, I was informed that he was dead.”

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Exposed underground tank

According to Issa’s mother, the boy and his sister were playing outside the house, and she kept a watch over them from inside. She lost sight of them for minutes and suddenly heard her daughter screaming that Issa had fallen into a hole.

“I ran out wondering what hole my daughter was talking about and found Issa floating in the tank, part of which was underground and exposed,” she said. “When I started screaming, the neighbours came quickly and took him out of the tank.” 

The child was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance where he was pronounced dead on arrival. 

An online portal announced that the funeral for Issa, who was a first-grade student at the Mohammed bin Khaled School, first cycle, was held on Thursday after the afternoon Dhuhr prayers at the Hamouda Bin Ali Mosque in Al Jimi. His body was then buried at the graveyard in Al-Fou'ah. 

Last month, a two-year-old boy drowned in a private pool in Fujairah during a weekend gathering at a family farm in Dibba. 

This year alone, there have been several drowning incidents, leading to experts warning that the growing popularity of community and home pools brings an increased risk of drowning, especially for children under the age of five.