15-year-old Indian expat boy drowns, sister rescued while swimming off Dubai beach
Father recalls harrowing experience during beach outing that goes awry
Dubai: A 15-year-old Indian expat boy drowned after he was caught by huge waves in the sea off Mamzar Beach in Dubai on Friday, his distraught father told Gulf News.
Ahmed Abdulla Mafaz, a 15-year-old school student in Dubai, died while his sister Fathima, a university student, was rescued, according to their father Mohammed Ashraf.
The grieving father said the incident happened when the Indian expat family went for an outing at the beach park.
Recounting what happened, he said: “We were all sitting on the beach and playing around in the water. I had just gone to the washroom when it [the tragedy] happened.”
He said both Mafaz and Fathima knew how to swim and it was not clear how they were swept away.
“I think there were huge waves and they got pulled by the strong current.”
Fathima’s screams for help were heard by another beachgoer who rushed to rescue her. “He is an Arab national. He rescued our daughter. We have no words to thank him,” the father said.
However, there was no sign of Mafaz, a grade 10 student of New Indian Model School in Dubai.
Meanwhile, the police were called in. Dubai Police said they received a call about two persons drowning.
“As soon as we received the report, the rescue team from the Ports Police Station in Dubai conducted a search,” a spokesperson told Gulf News.
However, there was no luck on Friday night. The search operation was intensified with divers and drones on Saturday, following which the boy’s body was fished out on Saturday evening.
The family has decided to lay him to rest in Dubai once the legal procedures are over, said Ibrahim Berike, a member of the volunteering team from Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre (KMCC) that is providing supportfor the paper work.
He said the family is shattered after the devastating tragedy. “They have four children. Fathima, who is doing MBA, is the eldest daughter. Mafaz was the third child. His other two siblings are also boys. Their mother, who was also there on the beach, is inconsolable,” he added.