Three Filipino employees died in severe floods within the United Arab Emirates, Philippine officials announced, because the desert country struggled to get better from record rains on Friday.
In an announcement from the Philippine Department of Migrant Workers, two women suffocated in a vehicle and one man died when his vehicle fell right into a ditch.
Women died in Dubai – the primary confirmed fatalities from floods in the town – and a person died in Sharjah, media department officials said.
The incidents brought the death toll to not less than 4 after a 70-year-old man was hijacked in his vehicle in Ras Al-Khaimah, one in every of the seven emirates of the oil-rich Gulf state.
“Both women died of suffocation within the vehicle throughout the floods,” said an announcement from the migrant employees’ department issued on Thursday.
“A third victim died from serious injuries suffered when his vehicle fell into a ditch at the height of the flooding.”
Storms hit the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain on Tuesday, causing flash floods and landslides in Oman that killed not less than 21 people, including several students, in accordance with official media.
The Middle East’s financial center, Dubai, has been hit particularly hard by rainfall – the heaviest since records began 75 years ago.
Dubai airport, the world’s busiest for international travelers, canceled greater than 1,000 flights on Friday, and roads remained severely flooded and plagued by abandoned cars.
On Friday, a Dubai Airport spokesman said that on account of the disruption, incoming flights can be limited until Sunday.
“Due to ongoing disruptions… DXB is temporarily limiting the variety of incoming flights from 12:00 on April 19 for 48 hours,” a spokesman said.
“Departures will continue,” the spokesman added.
There were chaotic scenes at Dubai airport, with crowds of stranded travelers demanding details about their flights.
In an earlier statement on Friday, Dubai Airport said it was “experiencing baggage backlogs on account of resource constraints.”
“We are providing necessary assistance and facilities to affected guests, but due to roadblocks it is taking longer than we would like.”
Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths said on Thursday he hoped to return to “something near normal” inside 24 hours.
