Emirati twins drown in neighbour's swimming pool

The boys went missing from their home on Thursday evening

Abdullah and Zayed Al Awadi drowned in their neighbour's swimming pool on Thursday. Courtesy RAK police

Twin Emirati boys drowned in the swimming pool of a villa in Ras Al Khaimah on Thursday.

The boys, identified as Abdullah and Zayed Al Awadhi, aged two and a half, were reported missing by their family at 10.10pm.

Maj Tareq Al Sharhan, director of the emergency department at Ras Al Khaimah Police, said his teams searched for the boys for an hour before their bodies were found in the swimming pool of another house in the neighbourhood.

Rescue teams and ambulances rushed to the location and pulled the children’s bodies out of the pool. Paramedics performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the boys but they were pronounced dead at the site, Gen Al Sharhan said.

The children's uncle, Hassan Al Awadhi, told Emarat Al Youm that the boy's mother had gone to the supermarket, leaving her sons playing on their bicycles in the garden under the supervision of the house maid.

He said that, upon her return, the mother asked the house maid where the boys were but she said she had not seen them for a long time. The mother called the police and began searching for her sons, asking the neighbours for help.

Police were called for a second time when the boys were found dead in the pool at 11.33pm. Mr Al Awadhi said their bicycles were also found in the pool, leading the family to believe that they accidentally fell in and could not get out.

Brig Gen Dr Mohammed Al Humaidi, director general of central operations at RAK Police, offered his condolences to the boys’ family and urged parents and caregivers not to leave children unattended at any time.

"Doors leading to swimming pools must be locked and all safety precautions should be taken," he said.
The children were laid to rest at Al Hudaibah cemetery on Friday after Juma prayers.

On Saturday, Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah, accompanied by Sheikh Saqr bin Saud, visited the boys' family to offer his condolences.

Sheikh Saud spoke to their father, Mansour Al Awadhi, and prayed for God to grant them mercy.

The incident follows the high-profile drowning of another Emirati boy, 4, in a school pool in Sharjah.

Last month, the emirate's Court of Misdemeanours ordered a sports teacher, his assistant and the Australian International School's administration to pay Dh200,000 to the boy's parents.

Six staff members were initially accused of negligence after the boy wandered out of sight after a swimming lesson and entered the school pool, where he drowned.

Prosecutors said the school failed to take necessary measures to protect pupils from entering the pool, such as locking the surrounding gate.