Saturday 20 / April / 2024
Here is an update on those reported missing on the fishing trip in Oman
Muscat: Two Omanis died, two are still missing and two more swam to safety after a fishing trip turned to tragedy.
Police and coast guard officials are still searching for two of the six men on board a small fishing craft that sank on Friday. An official from the Royal Oman Police told Times of Oman “Six individuals in total were stranded at sea in wilayat Mahout. Four of the men were found by citizens; two were deceased when rescued and the other two alive.”
One of the survivors, who swam in open water for more than five hours awaiting rescue, spoke exclusively to Times of Oman about his ordeal, and how he raised the alarm to help save his friends.
‘It was very scary’
“It was very scary, swimming for all those hours. I didn’t know if I was going to live or die. I feel very blessed that I survived but at the same time, I am saddened by the loss of my family members,” said Ali Mohammed Al Masruri
Speaking about his ordeal Al Masruri said, “On Friday the six of us decided to go fishing; my cousin Khalfan owned a fishing boat and had gone fishing many times. We drove from our village in Qabil to Al Wusta, and sailed on the boat for about an hour until we reached the area where Khalfan regularly fished. At around 10:30 we realised that there was water starting to fill the boat, then suddenly the front of the boat rose, and flipped over. Sadly the only life vest sank with the boat. All this happened within a minute. ”
According to Al Masruri, this was the first time that he and four of his cousins had ever been in the sea, “Once we were in the water we had nothing to hold on to. I was only used to swimming in pools,” he added.
“ I noticed that one of the guys began undressing, and he told me to do it because the clothes will make us heavier. I decided to follow his advice and I tried to tell some of the other to undress too. Some refused.”
Al Masruri, who is not an experienced swimmer, had to learn techniques fast in order to stay afloat. “I saw that one of my cousins was swimming on his back, and so I decided to do this whenever I got tired. We slowly started drifting apart; I remember there was a moment where there was only two of us left. I couldn’t see my cousin but I could hear him; we were both screaming for help.”
Al Masruri was somewhere in the Mahout sea for approximately five hours, and was first seen by expats on a large fishing boat, “After a while, I saw a larger fishing boat and began swimming towards it. By the time the expats on the boat helped me onboard it was 3:30 I immediately gave them my brother’s number and told them that there were still five other people at sea and we needed to call the police.”
Local fishermen then picked Al Masruri from the large boat and brought him to shore. Within an hour and a half Khalifa Al Amari was found alive but Mohammed Abdullah Al Samri, father of four girls, and Khalfan Yahya Al Masruri drowned.
“The police wanted me to go to the hospital but I refused to leave, I had to wait and see what would happen to them,” said Al Masruri. Meanwhile, when locals at their home village heard of the news, up to 50 vehicles travelled from Al Qabil in Sharqiyah to Al Khaluf in Al Wusta Governorate.
Yasir Al Masruri, one of the cousins of the missing men told Times of Oman that the locals in Khaluf supported everyone that came from Qabil and stood by them throughout the search operation. “The local villagers opened their main majlis for us to sleep in. I would like to thank everyone in the security forces but especially the locals for their support in helping us look for the remaining two.”
“If we find them alive then it is a blessing and they can return to their families, but even if we find them dead, at least their families would be able to bury them, rather than them not knowing,” Al Masruri added.
An extensive effort has been put in place to support the authorities’ search for the remaining two persons, Suleiman Ali Al Masruri and Yasir Hamoud Al Rawahi. “The search is still underway for the two missing men. Al Wusta police force, Coast Guard Police, Police Aviation, the Royal Air Force of Oman and the Public Authority for Civil Defence and Ambulance have all participated in the search and rescue operation, in addition to the locals.”
