UAE: Five-year-old girl drowns in swimming pool on farm in Sharjah

Sharjah: A five-year-old girl drowned in a swimming pool at a farm in Mleiha area of Sharjah Central Region on Saturday evening, police said today.

A family member of the girl told police that they had rented the farm to spend the weekend there. The girl sneaked out to the pool without the knowledge of her family, who were performing the sunset Maghrib prayer at the time.

They realised the girl was missing and after a search found her motionless in the pool.

Police received an emergency call from a family member, who reported that the girl had drowned in the swimming pool.

The body of the girl was moved to Al Dhaid hospital around 8pm the same night and later handed over to the family for burial.

Awareness campaign

Police have recently launched an awareness campaign and urged parents to monitor their children while they play. Parents were also advised to install fences around the swimming pool area to restrict the entry of children. Police have said that parental neglect has played a large role in the cases of children’s drowning.

Police urged families to increase the level of supervision in the swimming pool area, and advised parents to never leave their children unattended, not even briefly, or let them swim alone without an adult present.

Pool safety

To prevent children from drowning, police urged parents and landlords to:

• Install a fence around the swimming pool area.

• Ensure there is a non-slippery floor around the pool. Make sure floats, tubes, toys and cleaning equipment are stored away from the water when they’re not in use.

• Provide swimming safety equipment, such as life jackets and arm floats.

• Close all the doors that lead to the swimming pool.

• Never leave the child unattended and watch them at all times