Muscat: A massive search for a missing expatriate family of six members is under way for the third day in a row in a flooded area, the Royal Oman police said.
The family of an Indian healthcare worker, including a 28-day-old baby boy, were visiting the Wadi Bani Khalid, about 200 kilometres from Muscat, where they were trapped inside a vehicle by torrential rains.
While the head of the family -- Sardar Fazal Ahmed -- managed to leave the car, other members, including his parents, wife and three children, were swept away, according to reports in Omani newspapers.
The Oman-based expat said that he managed to hold on to a palm tree branch and pull himself out of the fast-flowing waters in Wadi Bani Khalid.
Sardar's parents, Khan and Shabana, his wife Arshi, daughter Sidra, four, son Zaid, two, and infant son Nooh, were all swept away. His parents had flown from India to celebrate with them following the birth of the baby. His parents were due to fly home on Monday.
Rescue teams have located the mangled wreckage of the rent-a-car they drove to Wadi Bani Khalid. Search and rescue teams of Oman's Public Authority for Civil Defence and Ambulance combined efforts with local police officers and volunteers to comb the area in the hope of finding Sardar's family members alive.
استمرار جهود البحث عن العائلة الأسيوية المفقودة في وادي بني خالد في وقتٍ سابق من مساء يوم السبت الماضي بتعاون مختلف فرق البحث والإنقاذ بشرطة عمان السلطانية والهيئة العامة للدفاع المدني والإسعاف والفرق التطوعية الأهلية. pic.twitter.com/HHxZcVxEqK
— شرطة عُمان السلطانية (@RoyalOmanPolice) May 20, 2019
Omani weather authorities forecast more rainfall in the country on Monday, a day after several parts in Oman experienced heavy rains.
"We have recorded 41 mm in Yanqul, 39.4 mm in Wadi Bani Khalid, 27.4 mm in Nizwa, 23 mm in Seeb, 16.2 mm in Al Kabil and there are others but these are the places that received the highest amount of rainfall. Muscat City recorded precipitation of 12.6 mm," an official at the Public Authority for Civil Aviation (PACA) said.
The low-pressure system is anticipated to slow down by Tuesday with chances of lighter rains and maybe thundershowers in some areas in the Sultanate.
جانب من جهود طيران الشرطة أثناء تنفيذه عملية إنقاذ لثلاثة أشخاص بوادي سرور بولاية سمائل مساء اليوم. #شرطة_عمان_السلطانية pic.twitter.com/2PHCmsZ7ZW
— شرطة عُمان السلطانية (@RoyalOmanPolice) May 19, 2019