Muscat: A man was rescued by the Public Authority for Civil Defence and Ambulance (PACDA) after he went missing at sea in Qurum.
After a thre-hour search, the man was saved and immediately taken to the hospital, according to PACDA’s tweet. He is said to be in a critical condition.
Meanwhile, PACDA is still searching the sea waters for a third person, who went missing off the Al Suwaih beach after two others were rescued.
PACDA confirmed that the search for the third person is still ongoing and refuted rumours about the missing person’s body having been found.
Rescue teams in Jaalan Bani Bu Ali rushed to the beach after receiving information about three missing persons on Wednesday.
The search was postponed due to poor light on Wednesday night after rescuers and local citizens found two of the three missing swimmers. Rescue staff continued with their search after the first light Thursday. PACDA reiterated that the two rescued men are in good health, while the search for the third person is still ongoing.
Royal Oman Police ROP yesterday called upon people to follow safety measures whenever they are going for picnic .
PACDA has also regularly issued notes of caution to tourists going to water holes to ease the heat.
“Not supervising children when they swim, not following advisories and guidelines and crossing the wadis without considering the strength of the current are among the causes of drowning,” PACDA has said in the past.
People helping a drowning person could sometimes even lead to more risk. People go to pools and valleys to enjoy themselves but some, whether young or adult, have no any idea how to swim
According to PACDA statistics, 113 recorded cases of drowning occurred in 2015, down from 150 in 2014 and 292 in 2013. PACDA said not knowing swimming or swimming in areas not designated for it were the causes of drowning.
Seas, valleys (wadis), water canals, dams, pools, wells, open water reservoirs, ponds, wadis during rainy season are among some of the places where rescue operations had to be carried out.
According to PACDA’s annual statistics, 55 rescue operations were carried out in wadis, 26 in seas, two at pools, two in swamps and 11 at wells, two at dams and seven where waste water had accumulated.