Three Filipinos dead in UAE floods, say officials

Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - Cars are stranded on a flooded street in Dubai following heavy rains on April 18, 2024. Three workers from the Philippines have died in heavy flooding. — AFP pic

DUBAI, April 19 — Three workers from the Philippines have died in heavy flooding in the United Arab Emirates, Filipino officials announced, as the desert country struggled today to recover from record rains.

Two women suffocated inside their vehicle during the flooding and one man died when his vehicle fell into a sinkhole, the Philippine’s Department of Migrant Workers said in a statement.

The women died in Dubai — the first confirmed deaths from the floods in the city — and the man died in Sharjah, media officers from the department told AFP.

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The incidents bring the death toll to at least four after a 70-year-old man was swept away in his vehicle in Ras Al-Khaimah, one of the oil-rich Gulf state’s seven emirates.

“The two females died due to suffocation inside their vehicle during the flooding,” said the statement issued yesterday.

“The third victim died due to major injuries sustained from an accident when his vehicle fell into a sinkhole at the height of the flooding.”

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The storms hit UAE and Bahrain on Tuesday after causing flash floods and landslides in Oman, where at least 21 people died, according to official media, including several schoolchildren.

Middle East financial centre Dubai was particularly badly hit by the rain fall, the heaviest since records began 75 years ago.

Dubai airport, the world’s busiest for international travellers, has cancelled more than 1,000 flights and roads remained badly flooded and littered with abandoned cars today. — AFP