Heavy rain kills two in Oman

Residents have been asked to stay indoors

Oman has been hammered by heavy rain in the past few days, as winter season gets under way.

The capital Muscat was hit the hardest, resulting in flooded homes and streets. Two people died due to the extreme weather conditions.

One man was killed in the early hours of Tuesday when his vehicle overturned in Muscat's Maabela area. Another man died after his car crashed into a wall of a residential building in the city, according to Oman Television.

Muscat resident Faisal Al Lamki said his home was flooded.

“We were upstairs sleeping not aware of the water seeping under the kitchen door during the night. We only realised the kitchen was flooded when we came down for breakfast,” he said.

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  Police direct traffic on waterlogged roads after days of heavy rain in the sultanate. Photo: Royal Oman Police

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  Conditions were worst in the capital Muscat, where the water carried debris on to roads. Photo: Royal Oman Police

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  Two motorists died in accidents caused by the floods. Photo: Royal Oman Police

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  A police officer directs traffic in Muscat. Photo: Royal Oman Police

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  Motorists were urged to take extra care and avoid unnecessary journeys. Photo: Royal Oman Police

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  The rain causes a traffic jam in Muscat. Photo: Ahmed Farsi

Several media outlets told people, including schoolchildren and university students, to stay indoors.

The Royal Oman Police helped to monitor the roads and ensure a steady flow of traffic.

The sultanate's meteorological department said rain is expected until Thursday morning.

The traffic department said motorists should exercise caution and refrain from crossing the valleys and areas prone to flooding.

“The rain will continue on and off until Thursday in Muscat and most parts of Oman until the weekend,” Said Mansoor, a weather forecaster at the Civil Aviation Authority's department of meteorology, told The National.

Police and traffic authorities have been struggling to control traffic during the bad weather.

“People do not listen to warnings to stay at home. They still rush to their offices and try to do their routine as usual when water is everywhere,” a policeman in Muscat said.

Hospital workers said several people had been admitted to emergency wards for serious injuries due to the rain, including road traffic incidents.

Muscat's Civil Defence and Ambulance Authority received 30 call-outs due to the rain. Fifty-one people were rescued, said the Oman News Agency.

“Injured people come to the emergency wards all the time from five in the morning today and are still coming. We use ambulances to transfer to other hospitals since we are in full capacity. They got hurt from warehouses and in their own private homes from flooding,” Sharifa Esri, a nurse at Muscat's The Royal Hospital, told The National.

Rain causes road traffic in Muscat, Oman. Photo: Ahmed Farsi

In Seeb, the roof of a warehouse caved in from the weight of accumulated rainwater. Three workers were injured.

“The roof of the warehouse partially collapsed and three of our workers, who were sleeping at the time, got hurt. One had a broken leg, the second had his back sprained and the third a head injury,” said Sathish Topiwalla, a warehouse supervisor.