Muscat: Heavy rain claimed three more lives in Oman on Wednesday and caused chaos on the roads during peak hours as some residents began preparations for the long Eid Al Adha holiday.
"So far six people have died, including three electrocutions in Jalan Bani Bu Ali on Tuesday, due to heavy rain that lashed different parts of the country," Ali Al Kasbi of the Royal Oman Police (ROP) said.
On Wednesday, a citizen was washed away in Rustaq when he tried to cross a flooded wadi (river), and a mother and child died in Maawil in the Batinah region when their vehicle was sucked into the fast-flowing river as they tried to cross it.
Police have again urged people not to venture into flooded or low-lying areas.
Traffic came to a virtual standstill in Muscat when the streets were flooded by a three-hour downpour and people returning home for lunch break had a tough time wading through the water.
According to a witness, the Hamriya Roundabout collapsed, triggering traffic chaos in Ruwi and the surrounding areas.
Rising water
"The wadi from Hamriya came crashing and flooded the entire area," Dr Rikin Shah, consultant ophthalmologist with Al Nahda Hospital, told Gulf News.
"The hospital is in knee-deep water. We were moved to an adjacent building."
A couple of cars and a pick-up truck were washed away as the water level kept rising in the wadi in Ruwi. A heavy truck parked behind the Muscat Municipality was also washed away.
Although the rain caused a lot of hardship for many motorists, patients and ambulances, some residents, especially children, managed to have a good time.
"This was my best birthday ever," Kaavya Kannan, a 12th grade student of Indian School Muscat, said as she frolicked in the rain with her friends in the Darseit area.
