The Civil Defence and Ambances Authority (CDAA) has sounded caution to safeguard children against drowning as heavy rains and adverse climatic conditions are forecast for Monday.
This comes in the wake of the recent incident in which two children drowned after a boat capsized at Khasab in Oman Saturday afternoon.
"Watch out for your children during the adverse weather conditions as most deaths are caused by drowning which is the second major reason behind deaths," a spokesperson from the CDAA said.
The deceased were identified as four-year-old Hamiz and seven-year-old Haizam, children of Vallil Vadakkethodukayil Lukhmanul Hakeem and Muhsina, who sustained minor injuries in the accident in Musandam Governorate.
Sources from Khasab told the Observer that the family hailed from Pullaloor near Narikuni in Kozhikode and had planned to fly home on Monday for vacation.
The CDAA representative further said that most drownings happen in water clogs and overflowing wadis while home swimming pools too contribute to casualties among children aged 1–4.
"About 40 per cent of drownings among children aged between 5-14 occur in natural water, and about 30 per cent occur in swimming pools. More than half of fatal and nonfatal drownings among people 15 years and older occur in natural waters like wadis, beaches and other natural water clogs."
The World Health Organisation (WHO) says that there are an estimated 236, 000 drowning deaths worldwide in a year making the third leading cause of unintentional injury death and it accounts for 7 percent of all injury-related deaths. And in a year, injuries account for almost 8 percent of total global mortality.
In Oman, such deaths reached 211 or 1.42 per cent of total deaths and the age adjusted Death Rate is 4.91 per 100,000 of population ranking Oman to be number 26 in the world as more than 500 drowning incidents were reported in Oman in 2021, a recent statistics has revealed.
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