There are few losses more painful than the death of a child. Still worse, the deaths of too many young people in the UAE are preventable. As The National reported yesterday, an eight-year-old boy was electrocuted by an exposed live wire while playing with friends in Ras al Khaimah. He died upon arrival at Saqr Hospital. "People have the responsibility to call professionals when they do their wiring," said Maj Marwan al Mansoori of RAK's police. But it's not just wiring, and it is not one child who has paid the consequences of another's negligence.
The UAE has one of the highest rates of accidental death in the world. Men fall off scaffolding, electrocutions take their toll, and the dangers of the nation's roads are well documented. Is there a wider trend of disregard for safety or are the high death rates a result of the country's rapid development? Discovering why accidental deaths happens so frequently in the UAE will not be easy but it must be done. Making the environment safer for children can often be overlooked in favour of managing costs. But this, of course, has its own costs, which a grieving mother and father in Ras Al Khaimah are only beginning to comprehend.
