Seeb Beach, OMAN :

Shahid Ruknuddin, Mudassir Kola and Mohiddin Anas had been fishing when they saw the Omanis crying for help.

Three Indian friends risked their own lives to save two Omanis from drowning after their boat reportedly capsized on Seeb Beach.

On the night of August 29, Shahid Ruknuddin, Mudassir Kola and Mohiddin Anas, based in Oman’s Seeb, went fishing.

For the first time, the trio tried fishing from the sea walls and not the seashore.

However, the trio couldn’t catch any fish, felt uncomfortable hearing sounds coming from the dark and decided to leave. But it was then they could spot two Omanis shouting for help. Ruknuddin jumped into the water, Kola followed him while Anas informed the police. The timely act helped save the lives of two Omanis.

Anas said it was destiny that they were at that spot at the right time. “I have been fishing since 2014 but for the first time we went to the sea walls. It was Ruknuddin’s idea to go there.

“Right from the start, we kept hearing some sounds. It was dark and a bit scary. I told Ruknuddin and Kola that maybe the fishermen were trying to scare us by making such sounds.

“We were not finding any fish and decided to leave. But whenever I switched off my flashlight, the sound got louder,” Anas said. The trio wondered if someone was in trouble and seeking help in Arabic.

So they decided to check all the spots. “For 15 minutes, we flashed our torch in different parts of the sea to spot any person. Our search was in vain and we decided to give up. Just when we were leaving, suddenly Kola spotted a face. They were two Omanis in the water seeking help. They were at a distance and we shouted at them with little Arabic we know.

“I informed the police. But we know even if police would reach the shore quickly, it would take a while to reach our spot. We kept encouraging them to try and swim towards us, but we felt they were exhausted,” Anas said. It was then that Ruknuddin jumped into the water and helped save the Omanis.

Recollecting the experience, Ruknuddin said: “It’s a great privilege that Allah gave me this opportunity to save lives. I jumped into the waters without thinking about anything else. By Allah’s grace, I was able to help two people.”

Anas added: “Ruknuddin is the real hero. He never thought about his life. He jumped into the water which had sharp rocks beneath.

“He got injured in the process but was strong.”

ashwani@khaleejtimes.com

source: http://www.khaleejtimes.com / Khaleej Times / Home> Region> Oman / by Ashwani Kumar, Khaleej Times, Abu Dhabi / September 03rd, 2020