Three killed, one missing in Oman rains

Muscat: Three people drowned on Tuesday as heavy rains accompanied by hailstorms and thundershowers swept through the Dakhliyah and Dhahirah regions in the northwest of the country.

Two men drowned in Izki, about 100-km northwest off Muscat, while a child died in Yanqul, a town in the Dhahirah region, according to Rashid Al Abri, from the Royal Oman Police (ROP) Public Relations Department.

He added that ROP were still looking for a man, who went missing in Wadi Seema near Izki. However, his companion was rescued by the police and rushed to the Nizwa Referral Hospital where he is recuperating.

However, the police were able to rescue another man as he was pulled in by strong currents in Wadi Halfain. “The other two were swept away in front of the rescue teams,” he said, adding that the police teams later fished out their bodies.

The ROP, he revealed, also rescued a nine-member family stranded in Wadi Zakait in Izki with the assistance of local citizens.

In Muscat, the ROP saved a 23-year-old man from drowning in Ras Al Hamra Beach in Qurum district.

The north and eastern regions of Oman received heavy-to-moderate rains Tuesday while light to moderate rains drenched capital Muscat, according to a weather report by the Meteorological Department.

Most Wadis in the country were overflowing due to Tuesday's rains, especially in the northwest and the Central Oman.
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