Sharjah Police's emergency 999 number is down.
The force have asked anyone in need of urgent help to call 065631111 until normal service is resumed.
“Please note that there is a temporary malfunction at the emergency number 999 for the city of Sharjah, in case of emergency please call 06-5631111,” police said on Twitter.
ننوه بوجود عطل مؤقت برقم الطوارئ 999 لمدينة الشارقة ، في الحالات الطارئة يرجى الاتصال على الرقم :
— شرطة الشارقة (@ShjPolice) October 3, 2019
06-5631111#شرطة_الشارقة#shjpolice
Residents can continue to call 901 for non-emergencies.
Nearly four million 999 calls made in Dubai last year were not urgent, which prompted police to launch a campaign to ensure people thought twice before dialling.
Dubai Police received more than 5.3 million calls on its emergency line in 2018, but a senior officer said 75 per cent of those were not necessary.
“This is a very high percentage compared to other counties like the US, with only 25 per cent of calls to emergency line being in fact non-emergency calls, which prompted us to launch this campaign,” said Maj Gen Kamel Al Suwaidi, director of operations at Dubai Police.
One elderly man dialled 999 to ask police to join him for lunch, as he was feeling lonely.
