Manama: A Kuwaiti narrowly escaped death after he was saved in a search and rescue operation that lasted several hours.
Kuwaiti boats and helicopters and a US military team were involved in the 13-hour operations to locate the 25-year-old man who was on a jet ski with two friends when he got lost. Local Arabic daily Al Anba on Tuesday reported that the rescue operations were launched at 10pm and covered the southern coast and water and several islands. The Kuwaiti was eventually found at around 11am on an artificial island, near Al Ahmadi Port, and taken to hospital for treatment. In Bahrain, a 20-year-old Yemeni who had come two months ago to the island country, and an Indian fisherman were not as lucky and drowned. Saif Mohsin Ali had been missing since Saturday when he went swimming with two friends in the northern tip of Bahrain late in the evening. However, when the two friends came out of the water, they could not find Saif and eventually called the police.
A massive search and rescue operation involving coast guard vessels and helicopters was launched. His body was found on Monday.
Saif, reportedly from a poor family, was staying with a cousin.
An Indian national whose boat capsized off Bahrain’s western coast has also drowned.
Ganesh Kumar Muthumari, 30, was fishing with three colleagues on Sunday, but the boat capsized and he drowned.
The deaths of Saif and Ganesh follow sea tragedies that struck earlier this month and last month off Bahrain’s coast.
Wael Khalid, 26, drowned on June 10 after he fell overboard while fishing at around 1am.
In May, Nawal Mohammad, 40, was swimming when she collapsed during a family day out.
Authorities in both Bahrain and Kuwait have issued warnings to fishermen and swimmers to exercise the highest caution when out in the sea.
Amateur fishing, swimming and seashore get-togethers are popular activities in both countries, particularly in summer.
