Emirati rescues missing child in Ras Al Khaimah

Adnan Okasha, Staff Reporter

Around 30 hours ago, not so many knew about Adel Mohammed Al Jasmi, 30, an Emirati member of the Hazza Fazza Adventures, who was described by the UAE social media users as a ‘hero’ after rescuing early on Saturday a missing child in the Yanas Mountain in Ras Al Khaimah following 12 hours of a long search.

Al Jasmi received in 2015 a social service medal from Lieutenant General Sheikh Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior. He is an employee in the UAE Armed Forces.

“The 33-month-old Indian child, whom his family lost during a mountain trip, fell asleep on the edge of a 90-degree steep and dangerous rocky slope at an altitude of between 600 and 700 metres above sea level.

The slop overlooks a large and open valley, known as Wadi Naqab and is close to the Al Hail and Al Fahalin areas in Ras Al Khaimah, about 10-20 kilometres from Ras Al-Khaimah City Centre,” Al Jasmi said, adding that the little boy was only 4-5 metres away from the steep slope.

“I was alone in the mountain during those difficult moments of joint search, which took a long time. I used a drone to look for the missing child but it stopped working after about an hour because it needed to be charged. Luckily, this was behind finding the little boy because it was when I had to take the drone down that I found the child there at about 6:30 on Saturday morning. He was asleep, only 100-200 metres from the spot in which the drone landed,” Al Jasmi said.

The little boy was asleep in a lonely mountainous environment full of snakes, scorpions and other reptiles, animals and birds. He was 1.5-2 kilometres away from where his family was on the mountain, Al Jasmi said.

The Hazza Fazaa Adventures includes in its membership 20 young men of both genders, most of whom are Emiratis.

The team was established in 2018 and consists of amateurs and lovers of mountaineering sports, hiking, adventures and exploration trips.

A holder of a higher diploma in information technology from the RAK Higher Colleges of Technology, Al Jasmi graduated in 2013 and completed his studies at Al Ain University of Science and Technology, where he obtained a BA in Business Administration.

Al Jasmi also holds a professional diploma in safety and security in the oil and gas sector from the OSHAcademy in the United States and an international licence for sustainable development leaders from a specialised centre in the Netherlands.

Personally, Al Jasmi is unmarried but plans to get married soon. He lives in Abu Dhabi but he is originally from the Seeh Al Uraibi area in Ras Al Khaimah City, where he was born and grown up. He usually comes back to Seeh Al Uraibi in vacations and weekends, where he meets his parents and family members. He has 5 brothers and 4 sisters and his father is a retiree from the Armed Forces.

SHARJAH POLICEMAN TO THE RESCUE: Many people become very nervy when they have to deal with the enforcers of the law. In fact, they would rather avoid than deal with them, is the general perception.

There is also the view that they are very harsh in their treatment of people.

Now, this may apply to policemen in some parts of the world. But the general notion that the law enforcers are cruel and have no sign of humanity is, however, far from the truth.

The keepers of the law in the UAE are a totally different breed, who, contrary to the general view and unlike some other countries, are very kind, gentle and extremely helpful. As a Pakistani family in Sharjah found out much to their pleasant surprise, during a trip in the emirate. Their car broke down as they approached the Corniche area of Kalba. 

As they were at their wit’s end wondering what to do, a ‘superhero’ from Sharjah Police came to their rescue.

He not only gave them his personal car for use so that their holiday mood was not spoilt but even ordered for a recovery van to tow the car away for repairs.