Hotel worker drowns after being swept out to sea in Fujairah storms

The employee was on duty when disaster struck

Flooding along Hamad bin Abdullah Street in Fujairah city. Ruba Haza / The National

A hotel worker in Fujairah has drowned after he was swept out to sea in storms that have battered the UAE’s east coast.

The man was on duty in Al Aqah when the accident happened, according to a hotel source quoted by Emarat Alyoum, a UAE newspaper.

“He was performing his duties in the courtyard of the hotel overlooking the seaside and was surprised by the high wave which pulled and swept him away,” the source said.

The report did not state which hotel the incident happened at.

Kyarr is the strongest cyclone in the Arabian Sea since the category 5 Cyclone Gonu ravaged the coast in 2007.

Storm waters have hit east coast towns in the Emirates and Oman in recent days, causing schools in some areas to close.

The Miramar Al Aqah Beach Resort hotel was forced to close its beach earlier this week when crashing waves swept away sunbeds and smashed through a restaurant's glass windows.