MUSCAT: The Civil Defence and Ambulance Authority has affirmed that legal action will be taken against any person who takes a risk or endangers the life of other people, either by jumping or swimming into flood waters or crossing wadis during floods or standing or parking on steep slopes or cliffs.
Search and rescue teams of the Royal Oman Police (ROP) are still looking for four people who went missing in the Governorate of Dhofar during the recent climatic condition.
Brig Mohammed bin Nasser al Kindi, Director General of Operations at the ROP, told Oman News Agency (ONA) that two bodies were recovered at Al Mughsayl beach, while search is still on for four more people who went missing in the area.
"The Unified Operations Centre at Dohfar Governorate’s Police Command set out on a search mission at Al Mughsayl and Raysut, using diving equipment and advanced search apparatus, while the Royal Air Force of Oman (Rafo) and drones were operated in inaccessible terrain'', Brig Al Kindi said.
He added that different governorates of the Sultanate of Oman experienced heavy rains from July 7-12 during which 40 people were rescued, 16 were confirmed dead and 4 missing. The missions saw the participation of the ROP and the Civil Defence and Ambulance Authority, he said.
The Director General of Operations urged citizens and residents to stick to safety instructions and avoid approaching perilous sites or steep or slippery slopes. All were equally warned against swimming in beaches that experience high waves and pay attention to their children when visiting tourist areas or coming in the vicinity of inundated areas.
Earlier, Col Abdullah bin Saleh al Najashi, Director General of Civil Defence at the Civil Defence and Ambulance Authority, told the Oman News Agency, "The number of communications that the Civil Defence and Ambulance Authority has dealt with in various governorates of the Sultanate of Oman has reached 386 since the beginning of the weather situation last week."
He added that the authority's teams dealt with 34 reports of people stuck in vehicles as a result of crossing wadis, in addition to getting stuck in homes due to high level of rainwater, and 12 drowning incidents in wadis, water ponds and beaches, and it was able to rescue 40 people from wadis.
He said that the number of fire accidents in all governorates stood at 74, while the rescue teams dealt with 12 reports, most of them are people getting stuck in vehicles due to road accidents, in addition to 254 reports that ambulance teams dealt with by providing emergency medical care and then transportation to hospitals.
The Director General of Civil Defence indicated that since the authorities announced the weather situation, the Civil Defence and Ambulance Authority has activated operational plans and reinforced them in governorates with necessary manpower, equipment and vehicles for evacuation, search and rescue operations, to deal with the situation arising due to the weather condition.
The Civil Defence and Ambulance Authority called upon citizens and residents to abide by safety guidelines and not to risk by crossing wadis, to stay away from dangerous places, heights and the edges of streams, to cooperate with the authorities and to abide by instructions issued by it for the safety of their lives. — ONA
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