DUBAI // For the second consecutive week, a swimmer is presumed to have drowned off Al Mamzar beach. Ahmed Kamada, a 29-year-old Ugandan, disappeared on Friday after being swept up by a large wave, a witness said. "As soon as we saw the wave sweeping him, the police rescue team came and cordoned off the area," said Mustafa Saava, a Ugandan friend who had gone swimming with Mr Kamada.
A senior Dubai Police official from Port Rashid station, which is responsible for beach rescue operations in the area, said at midday yesterday that no body had been recovered. On July 18 the body of Sajid Mavilaveedu, 30, from the Indian state of Kerala, was recovered from the sea a day after he disappeared off Al Mamzar Beach. The Ugandan community has lost at least one swimmer to Mamzar waters in each of the last three years: shipping worker Mohammed Kakande last year; and a man and woman, Burhan Mawejje and Jane Kityo, in 2007.
Beachgoers have been told to exercise maximum caution while swimming. Col Nasser al Zarri, head of operations for Ajman Civil Defence, said that last year his agency recorded 33 sea accidents, including four drownings. Many beachgoers were disregarding safety rules and swimming in dangerous areas, he said. ykakande@thenational.ae
