Three children drown in Oman

A weekend picnic turned out to be a tragedy for an Omani family on Friday afternoon when three of their young children drowned in an artificial lake, according to the Royal Omani Police.

A family from Suwaiq travelled to Naseem Park in Birka on the outskirts of Muscat with their family friends to enjoy the good weather.

According to the police, the three children strayed away from the place where their parents and other family members had set up a camp.

The youngest of the three fell in the artificial lake in the park. Two older siblings jumped in vain to save their brother and drowned in the pond.

The children were pulled out of the pond by some visitors before the police arrived and rushed to Birka Health Centre where they were pronounced dead on arrival. The youngest was eight and the other two were 11 and 12 years old.

A municipality official blamed the parents for negligence which caused this tragedy, adding that this was the first time such a tragedy had taken place in the park.

The ROP has urged residents to keep a watch on their wards when they take them to public places.