7 children suffocate in village fire, a mother’s trauma

A woman’s prized possession is her children, followed by her husband, parents and in-laws—not necessarily in that order.

Tragedy struck a small village on the east coast of the UAE early on Monday morning when seven siblings belonging to Al Suraidi family died in their sleep due to suffocation after a fire broke out in their room.

The quiet mountain community of Rul Dhadna, near Dibba Fujairah, was in a state of shock as they laid to rest an entire family in their ancestral graveyard, facing the East Coast road.

A short circuit caused the fire in the air conditioner of the children’s room, after which the AC gas leaked. The four boys and three girls died as they slept.

The deceased have been identified as twins Sara and Sumaia (5), Ali (9), Sheikha (10), Ahmad (11), Khalifa (13) and Shooq (15). They were from the Al Suraidi family. Their father had passed away last year and they lived with their mother at the villa in Rol Dhadna.

At dawn, the children’s diabetic mother, who was sleeping in another room, woke up to take her insulin shot. As she stepped out of her room, she saw her children’s room was on fire. In a state of panic, the woman called her relatives and the Fujairah Police and notified them about the fire and the fact that her children were trapped inside.

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However, the police had been informed too late. According to the police, despite arriving at the site and controlling the fire in a “record time”, emergency personnel from Dibba Al Fujairah found the seven children dead.

The siblings were orphans as their father passed away five years ago.

A relative of the seven children said, “I came to know about the tragic fire while I was at work. Some say the fire was caused because of the air conditioner, while others say it was the heater. We don’t know the real cause of the fire yet.”

Top officials of the force, including Major-General Mohammed Ahmed bin Ghanem Al Kaabi, Commander-in-Chief, rushed to the spot. Maj-Gen Al Kaabi said they are still investigating the cause of the fire.

He said: “We urge the public to install smoke and fire detectors to avoid such tragedies in the future.”

The narrow streets of the village, which are not accustomed to having too many visitors, were clogged as scores of motorists lined up to visit the family’s house and the graveyard.