Manama: Saudi Arabia security officials have warned families to be vigilant and abide by instructions after a father and two of his daughters drowned in the Half Moon Bay near the city of Khobar in the Eastern Province.
The tragedy occurred on Tuesday morning in an area where swimming is prohibited. “It is way too deep to allow people to swim and there are plenty of signs warning against going into the water,” Khalid Al Argoobi, the spokesperson for the border guards in the region, said. “We received an emergency call and the search and rescue team was dispatched to the Bay where they found that five people needed assistance,” he said, quoted by local news site Sabq.
The father, 64, his three daughters, nine, 11 and 12 and a young man, 25, were in the water when the rescue team arrived. They were all taken out, given urgent care and rushed to a local hospital where the father and two of his daughters were pronounced dead. The youngest daughter is still under observation.
“They were from a different town and they came on a visit to this area,” Al Argoobi said. “One of the girls went for a swim even though the area was off limits and she was followed by her two sisters. When the father and the young man, believed to be his son-in-law, realised the young girls were in danger, they jumped in an attempt to rescue them.”
The spokesperson said that people should never underestimate the significance of the warning signs. “Those who do not know how to swim have to be extra careful and highly vigilant,” he said. The magnetic attraction of the sea could have fatal consequences, he said. “We have since the start of the summer holidays rescued 18 people, mainly children. We are grateful to God for His care. We do request all families to monitor their children very closely because drowning incidents take fleeting seconds,” he said.
Half Moon Bay is hugely popular in the Eastern Province and has been used as a place of recreation by families for decades. Reports say that it has an average depth of around five to 10 metres but in some spots it can reach 18 metres. The Bay is also used by thousands of divers learning the sport.
