Dubai Police save toddler from drowning in pool accident

The child's arm was trapped in the suction drain of the pool

Lt Col Ali Abdullah Al Naqbi, director of Maritime Rescue at Dubai Police, urged parents to monitor their children while they swim to avoid accidents. Courtesy: Dubai Police

Dubai Police saved a toddler from drowning after his arm got stuck in the suction drain of a pool in a private villa.

The incident happened on Monday in a villa on the Dubai-Al Ain road.

The parents called up the police operations room after they failed to free the child's arm.

“A team from the maritime rescue department and the special tasks unit rushed to the villa,” said Lt Col Ali Abdullah Al Naqbi, director of Maritime Rescue at Dubai Police.

“The child’s parents tried to rescue him but couldn’t so they called the police.”

Paramedics were also sent to the house.

The officers calmed down the crying child and the distressed parents.

“His left arm was stuck and the water pressure caused him a lot of pain,”  said Lt Col Al Naqbi.

“It was very hard to free the child’s arm because of the water pressure.

“We decided not to rely on a drainage device to empty the pool, so to expedite the process, we used buckets to manually empty the pool.”

As a precautionary measure, electricity supply was cut off before officers dug a hole around the drain.

“The plastic ring around the drain was removed, then a small hole was made inside the drain’s pipe to release the air pressure, which helped free the child’s arm,” said Lt Col Al Naqbi.

The officers worked for two hours to rescue the child.

Lt Col Al Naqbi urged parents to monitor their children while they swim to avoid such accidents.