Muscat: The Royal Oman Police (ROP) rescued four Europeans after they were lost in a desert in the eastern region of Oman, ROP said on Thursday.
“The group of three French and a Swiss national had gone to Sharqiya [eastern] Sands where their SUV got stuck in high dunes,” said Major Nasser Bin Ali Hooti, ROP’s Deputy Director of Operations in southeastern region.
He added that a police convoy was sent after receiving a distress call from the group. “The police rescuers reached the group with the help of the citizens in the area,” he said.
However, by the time, he said, the rescue team reached the stranded Europeans it was too dark to pull the SUV out of the sand dunes.
“We had to seek ROP Aviation Wing’s help. After that the stranded Europeans were plucked from the spot at 9pm by a helicopter and taken directly to Muscat,” Major Al Hooti further said, adding that all four were in good health.
Murder suspect held
Meanwhile, the ROP detectives have cracked a murder mystery with the arrest of an Asian expatriate for allegedly killing a compatriot.
“Around middle of the last month we received a missing complaint about an Asian,” a spokesman for ROP’s Public Relations Department said, adding that the police eventually found the body of the missing person with a wound on his head.
“It appeared that the deceased was hit on the head with a blunt object that caused his death,” he said. The police investigation led them to the accused, who is not named by the police.
“The accused confessed to the crime and revealed that a financial dispute between the two was the reason behind the murder,” the spokesman added.
In another case, officers from the Narcotic Control Department of ROP caught an Asian expatriate from the Ghala Industrial Area in Muscat on the charges of trafficking in drugs.
“When the accused was arrested red handed, he was trying to trade 50 capsules of heroin,” he added.
