Lt Colonel Ali Al Naqbi, Director of Maritime Rescue in Dubai Police, said the toddler opened the drain cover and his hand was sucked into the pipe, following which he got trapped.

A team from the Maritime Rescue Department and Difficult Mission Squad went to the boy's villa located on Dubai-Al Ain road after receiving an emergency call from the toddler’s parents on Monday.

“His parents tried to rescue the child while he was in the pool, but they couldn’t due to the water pressure. The child was crying due to pain,” Lt Col Al Naqbi said in a statement.

No danger to life

Officers calmed down the parents and the child after finding out that there was no serious danger to the child’s life. A paramedic had arrived in time at the villa. “It was hard to extract the child’s arm because of the water pressure. We worked quickly to empty the pool manually, using buckets and a special drain device. The rescue operation lasted for two hours,” added Lt Col Al Naqbi.

After emptying the swimming pool and unplugging the electricity connection as a safety measure, Dubai Police used tools to break the concrete at the bottom of the swimming pool around the child’s arm before making a hole at the bottom of the drain to equalise the air pressure and rescue the child.

Work praised

Lt Col Al Naqbi praised the work of the officers, who worked for two hours to empty the swimming pool and executed the rescue plan without injuring the child.

He urged parents to monitor their children and be with them in swimming pools if there is no lifeguard. “It is important to monitor the children all the time in swimming pools and call 999 for such emergency cases,” Lt Col Al Naqbi said.

The toddler’s parents thanked Dubai Police for the quick response to their emergency call and for saving the boy’s life.