Heavy rain kills six people in Oman, UAE

Torrential rain in northern Oman and the United Arab Emirates has killed six people this week, local media reported on Thursday.

Omani police on Thursday found one body that had been swept away in a flash flood in the northern district of Nizwa, and another in a car that sank into the mud in a flooded valley in the northwestern area of Al-Buraimi, the Shabiba daily reported.

The two fatalities brought Oman's death toll to five, the paper said.

The Times of Oman newspaper said heavy rain had hit northern areas of the sultanate - which is prone to thunderstorms - since Sunday.

Images posted on social media on Thursday showed cars stuck in gushing riverbeds and rescue teams using ropes to pull people out of the water.

Rain fell in several parts of Muscat on ThursdayIn the United Arab Emirates, a seven-year-old boy drowned on Wednesday after he was trapped in a car that was caught in floods in the border area of Hatta, The National daily reported.

In Dubai, the weather was calm on Thursday but several streets remained flooded after unusually heavy rain and high winds hit many parts of the UAE the previous day.

Flights at Abu Dhabi airport were suspended for several hours on Wednesday, while the emirate's stock market said it suspended trading and cancelled all morning deals after many traders could not reach the bourse.

Schools have been closed since Wednesday in both Gulf countries due to the storm.

The UAE's annual rainfall stands at 78 millimetres.

But the National Centre for Meteorology and Seismology said some 294 millimetres of rainfall were recorded on Wednesday near Al-Ain.