Muscat: The flash floods due to heavy rains that lashed several governorates of the country turned out to be fateful, especially for children.
At the time of writing this report, authorities recorded twelve deaths, including two citizens and six students as a result of their vehicles got stuck in a wadi in Samad al Shaan, in addition to an expatriate.
Right from the morning, the Civil Defence and Ambulance Authority (CDAA) was involved in rescuing people stranded in vehicles, including school buses, in various parts of the Al Sharqiyah North Governorate.
The CDAA in Muscat Governorate safely rescued two people after their vehicle was impounded in the wilayat of Qurayat.
The CDAA in Al Sharqiyah North carried out the evacuation and transfer of 93 people from two schools in the Wilayat of Al Mudhaibi.
The rescue teams of CDAA in the Al Sharqiyah North Governorate transferred 1,200 people from a school in the Wilayat of Al Mudhaibi after the rainwater level rose.
Search also continued to rescue people stranded in two vehicles in the Wilayat of Jaalan Bani Bu Hassan.
The CDAA responded to a report of the detention of a vehicle with five people in it in a wadi in Ibra and rescued them safely.
The CDAA in the Al Dakhiliyah Governorate safely rescued a person after his vehicle was stuck in a wadi in the Wilayat of Izki while CDAA in Muscat Governorate safely rescued a person after his vehicle was stranded in a wadi in the Wilayat of Al Amerat.
Public reactions to the incidents on Sunday were extreme for letting students venture out in dangerously flowing wadis and for not making adequate decisions to ensure that they were safe either in schools or at home. "The concerned authorities should answer questions on why studies were not suspended and the lives of these students saved," said a citizen.
"We demand that those responsible be held accountable for its recklessness and endangering the lives of students, teachers, bus drivers, and parents of students," said a relative of one of the missing parents.
A furious post said, "Each directorate should have the authority to approve and suspend school hours according to the local conditions. People have a right to react in a way they would in such cases."
A ROP spokesman told the Observer, "We are still actually carrying out our duty, trying to monitor the weather forecast and the rainfall. We received many reports of flash floods and flowing wadis and we continue to deal with the situations as they arise."
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