Emirati boy, 2, drowns while on a family holiday in Kuwait

Father found Saif Al Hassani unconscious in the hotel pool

Saif Al Hassani, 2, drowns in hotel pool in Kuwait. Courtesy family

An Emirati boy who drowned during a family holiday in Kuwait has been laid to rest in Fujairah.

The family of Saif Al Hassani, 2, travelled to Kuwait last Tuesday for a holiday. At around midday the next day, they noticed their son had gone missing.

"We were waiting at the hotel lobby for a car to take us to another place for lunch when Saif disappeared, at around 12.30pm," his mother, Wafaa Al Naqbi, 24, told The National.

“We started searching for him and within a few minutes his father found him unconscious at the pool.”

Ms Al Naqbi said the pool was unsupervised and the door leading to it had been left open.

“My husband closed the pool door when we arrived at the lobby so someone must have opened the door for Saif. The door was heavy and he would not have been able to open it himself,” she said.

The family did not know the number for Kuwaiti police so they took their son to a medical centre nearby. He was pronounced dead on arrival.

“Saif was my elder son and I cannot believe that he is no longer with us. We are all shocked,” said Ms Al Naqbi.

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The family plans to file a case against the hotel’s management for lack of safety precautions and negligence.

“The management said the cameras were not working and we do not know what happened exactly.

“My dearest son left us too soon and went to heaven. May Allah bless his soul,” she said.

Saif was buried at Dhadna cemetery on Friday after morning prayers.

Last month, a 3-year-old boy drowned in the swimming pool of a hotel villa in Ras Al Khaimah. The boy, of Arab origin, could not be resuscitated and was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital.