Sharjah: After a massive combing operation that lasted six days, the body of 18-year-old Indian Albert Joy, who was washed away in a flash flood in Khor Fakkan, was found in Oman Wednesday.
Joy’s decomposed body was fished out from a dam in Oman’s Madha area, 20km from Wadi Shis from where he went missing on November 16, police and relatives said.
The body of the engineering student in Ras Al Khaimah was retrieved in a joint operation of the UAE Police and the Royal Oman Police.
Lieutenant-Colonel Waleed Al Yamahi, director of Khor Fakkan Police, told Gulf News that the body was found near Madha dam in Oman, 20km from Wadi Shais around 11.30am.
The UAE rescue team of 75 members were able to find the missing teen in Madha Dam in Oman, in cooperation with the Royal Oman Police, he said.
A relative of Joy said the boy’s father went to Oman for the identification of the body following which the Oman police handed it over to the UAE police.
A family friend, who accompanied the grieving father, said the body was taken to Fujairah Forensic Department for post mortem.
“The family wants to do his funeral in their hometown in Kerala as his grandparents live there. We are waiting for the approvals,” he said.
As reported by Gulf News, the parents on Tuesday requested authorities to extend the search for his son in Oman after a massive search by police teams of Sharjah, Dubai and Abu Dhabi — including air wing and sniffer dogs — had not been fruitful. Though the car was found, they were not been able to find the missing boy.
They had made this request to Vipul, Indian Consul-General in Dubai, when he visited them at their home in Ras Al Khaimah on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, Vipul said the Indian Embassy in Oman had also sought the help of Omani authorities after he took up the matter with the mission.
He said the consulate would further assist the family for repatriating the body.
Colonel Mohammad Abdullah Al Obaid, director of the Eastern Region Police, praised the efforts and coordination between police departments.
Joy was among six Indian friends in a four-wheeler trapped in a flooded valley. An Emirati man, Khalifa Ali Bin Saeed Al Naqbi, and his employees rescued five of the friends, aged between 22 and 23.
Al Naqbi earlier told Gulf News that Joy refused to jump into the water surrounding the vehicle because “he was scared and he said he could not leave his father’s car”, which was swept away.
