High drama on Ajman beach

Emergency teams had to face some anxious moments on Wednesday night when a woman, who left her belongings in an empty spot of Ajman beach, went missing shortly after taking a plunge into the early evening tide.

An hour passed and the lifeguard saw that her clothes were still on the same spot on the beach where she left them. The lifeguard made a vain effort to locate her and also alerted the police and Civil Defence officials, who all rushed to the scene.

It took no time before the rescue team gathered on the beach and launched a 45-minute search-and-rescue operation. An ambulance was also rushed to the beachside road.

What the lifeguard did not realise was that the lone lady - a Filipina in her early 30s - is a long-distance swimmer.

By this time, the number of curious onlookers along the beach had swollen to about 100 to watch the rescue team in action.

Then out of the blue, the woman, still wearing her swimsuit, pushed her way through the crowd and demanded: "Excuse me, where are my clothes?"

To the rescue team's relief, the story unfolded that the woman swam a few metres out to the sea and turned left following the coastline.

She landed around 250 metres from where she originally set off and walked on the beach on her way back to take her towel and other belongings. Then, rescuers realised that she was the woman they were looking for all along.

Police then gave the woman a dressing down pointing to signs on the beach, warning about the dangers of swimming in the area, known to have underwater "cliffs" a few metres from the shore.

Two teenagers drowned there three months ago and another boy also drowned in the same spot two weeks ago. This prompted the police to set up warning signs and assign a lifeguard to the area.

The woman, who works in a beachside cafeteria in Ajman, said she used to swim in the area every day as she lives nearby.