Police rescue four children locked in cars during holidays

Dubai: The police had to rescue a number of children locked and forgotten in their cars by their parents during the Eid holidays, a senior officer said. "We had to rescue four children locked up in cars, which is a strange occurrence in such a short time," said Major Ahmad Atiq Bu Reqaibah, Deputy Director of Dubai Police Rescue Department. "The keys were still inside," he added. "We had to use special equipment and open the doors." The police officer advised parents to pay more attention to their children, specially during the holidays when everyone is busy having a good time. The Civil Defence also had to deal with a couple of such cases. A two-year-old child had accidently locked himself in his parent's bedroom and could not open the door. It took the Civil Defence several hours to get the door open as the child cried on the other side. The mother hugged her child and vowed to be careful in the future. "Homes are dangerous places for children if parents don't keep an eye on them," says Major General Rashid Thani Al Matroushi, Director of Dubai Civil Defence. He warned parents that children can also get trapped in elevators if they play with the lift buttons.In one of the incidents, civil defence teams had to wait for a little girl's father for half an hour to carry out the rescue operation. The girl had locked herself up in a room and was sitting behind the door crying and refused to move from behind the door. Rescue teams did not have a choice, but to rescue her from the window.

Operations: 28 incidents in 6 months

Civil Defence teams carried out 28 rescue operations of trapped children in the first six months of this year.

• Keep an eye on your children all the time
• You are responsible for your child
• Keep keys out of reach of children
• Do not leave children alone in rooms
• Windows and balcony doors must be closed
• Do not leave children in cars and lock them in while you shop
• Lack of oxygen could lead to partial damage of the brain
• The emergency number for civil defence is 997