Dubai Police have confirmed that there were no fatalities following a hot air balloon incident on March 23. Pawan Singh / The National
Dubai Police have confirmed that there were no fatalities following a hot air balloon incident on March 23. Pawan Singh / The National
Dubai Police have confirmed that there were no fatalities following a hot air balloon incident on March 23. Pawan Singh / The National
Dubai Police have confirmed that there were no fatalities following a hot air balloon incident on March 23. Pawan Singh / The National

No fatalities in Dubai hot-air balloon incident


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Dubai Police have said there were no fatalities in a hot-air balloon incident in the Emirate on March 23.

A statement to The National from the Dubai Media Office said: "All injuries resulting from the incident were classified as minor to moderate, and those affected received immediate medical attention. The individuals involved were of various nationalities."

On Friday, footage went viral of a Russian tourist and her mother on the balloon ride over the desert, along with reports of two fatalities.

Dubai Police said that "individuals involved were of various nationalities", there were no fatalities and all injuries resulting from the incident were classified as minor to moderate. Those affected received immediate medical attention.

In a statement to The National, Dubai Police said preliminary findings suggest the incident was caused by deteriorating weather during landing.

An official investigation is under way.

Dubai Police have urged the public and media to avoid sharing unverified information and to rely on official sources for accurate updates to prevent unnecessary concern and confusion.

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Rating: 1/5

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Liverpool v Bayern Munich, midnight, Wednesday, BeIN Sports

Know your cyber adversaries

Cryptojacking: Compromises a device or network to mine cryptocurrencies without an organisation's knowledge.

Distributed denial-of-service: Floods systems, servers or networks with information, effectively blocking them.

Man-in-the-middle attack: Intercepts two-way communication to obtain information, spy on participants or alter the outcome.

Malware: Installs itself in a network when a user clicks on a compromised link or email attachment.

Phishing: Aims to secure personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.

Ransomware: Encrypts user data, denying access and demands a payment to decrypt it.

Spyware: Collects information without the user's knowledge, which is then passed on to bad actors.

Trojans: Create a backdoor into systems, which becomes a point of entry for an attack.

Viruses: Infect applications in a system and replicate themselves as they go, just like their biological counterparts.

Worms: Send copies of themselves to other users or contacts. They don't attack the system, but they overload it.

Zero-day exploit: Exploits a vulnerability in software before a fix is found.

Tonight's Chat on The National

Tonight's Chat is a series of online conversations on The National. The series features a diverse range of celebrities, politicians and business leaders from around the Arab world.

Tonight’s Chat host Ricardo Karam is a renowned author and broadcaster with a decades-long career in TV. He has previously interviewed Bill Gates, Carlos Ghosn, Andre Agassi and the late Zaha Hadid, among others. Karam is also the founder of Takreem.

Intellectually curious and thought-provoking, Tonight’s Chat moves the conversation forward.

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Khalfan Mubarak
The Al Jazira playmaker has for some time been tipped for stardom within UAE football, with Quique Sanchez Flores, his former manager at Al Ahli, once labelling him a “genius”. He was only 17. Now 23, Mubarak has developed into a crafty supplier of chances, evidenced by his seven assists in six league matches this season. Still to display his class at international level, though.

Rayan Yaslam
The Al Ain attacking midfielder has become a regular starter for his club in the past 15 months. Yaslam, 23, is a tidy and intelligent player, technically proficient with an eye for opening up defences. Developed while alongside Abdulrahman in the Al Ain first-team and has progressed well since manager Zoran Mamic’s arrival. However, made his UAE debut only last December.

Ismail Matar
The Al Wahda forward is revered by teammates and a key contributor to the squad. At 35, his best days are behind him, but Matar is incredibly experienced and an example to his colleagues. His ability to cope with tournament football is a concern, though, despite Matar beginning the season well. Not a like-for-like replacement, although the system could be adjusted to suit.

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  • Park the electric scooter in designated parking lots (if any)
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  • Solo riders only, no passengers allowed
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THE LOWDOWN

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Rating: 4/5

Produced by: Poetic License Motion Pictures; RSVP Movies

Director: Ritesh Batra

Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Sanya Malhotra, Farrukh Jaffar, Deepak Chauhan, Vijay Raaz

Updated: April 06, 2025, 3:16 AM`