Muscat – Two people died while eight were rescued after a boat sank off the coast of the wilayat of Taqah in Dhofar, the Civil Defence and Ambulance Authority (CDAA) stated Wednesday.

A CDAA statement said, ‘Our rescue teams in Dhofar responded to alerts on the sinking of a wooden boat carrying ten people of Asian nationality. The boat was loaded with vehicles.’

The authority added that as a result of the accident, two people died. Eight others were rescued, including three with moderate injuries. ‘They were taken to hospital to receive treatment.’

Oman witnessed a 44.3 per cent increase in drowning accidents in 2021, compared to 2020. There were 521 drowning accidents in different parts of the sultanate in 2021, compared to 361 in 2020.