15-year-old drowns while swimming off Dubai beach

A 15-year-old Indian expat drowned after getting caught in strong water currents while swimming off the Al Mamzar beach. Ahmed Abdulla Mafaz, a Grade 10 student at Dubai-based New Indian Model school, was out on a fun evening on Friday with his siblings and parents when the mishap happened.

“He had other plans to go with his friends, but we urged him to come with us,” his distraught father Mohammed Ashraf told Khaleej Times. “We had just finished having tea when his sister asked him to go swimming with her. I had just stepped away to go to the bathroom and their mother was with them at the beach.”

He said the youngsters were just playing on the shore when a huge wave separated them. “They did not go too much further and were just splashing near the shore when the wave struck,” he said. “They got separated and my daughter desperately tried to cling on to her brother but then she also started to get pulled in.”

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According to social workers, the panicked family screamed for help. “A nearby Arab swimmer rushed to help them,” said Ibrahim Berike, a social worker and volunteer with Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre. “He was able to rescue Mafaz’s sister, but the boy had disappeared by then.”

“We are really grateful to the man for rescuing our daughter,” said Ashraf.

Sudden pull

Ibrahim further added that the boy’s mother was standing on the shore watching the children when the incident happened. “Both the youngsters knew how to swim and were enjoying a leisurely dip in the water when suddenly they started to get pulled in,” he said. “The mother said that the boy disappeared within the blink of an eye, and she is still unsure of what exactly happened. It must have been a very strong undercurrent.”

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