Dubai: Dubai Police conducted 26,237 land rescue and 290 sea rescue missions in 2016, all within the 12-minute response time.

Brigadier Dr Mohammad Nasir Al Razooqi, Deputy Director of the Rescue and Transportation Department at Dubai Police, said their teams are ready anytime to rescue people and work around the clock to respond to rescue missions.

“The average response time was 12 minutes because of the proper distribution of our teams in Dubai. Our teams are well-trained to face any land or sea accidents,” Brigadier Al Razooqi said.

In 2015, Dubai Police conducted 24,860 rescue missions including 186 sea rescue missions.

Lt-Colonel Juma Ahmad Butti Al Falasi, Director of the Search and Rescue Department, said rescue missions carried out by the department included extricating traffic accident victims stuck in their vehicles, rescuing people who got lost in the desert and rescuing people trapped in homes or elevators.

“The department also helps participate in rescue missions in other emirates and sometimes, even in neighbouring countries,” Colonel Al Falasi said.

Dubai had 188 land accidents in which 66 people were killed and 326 people injured in 2016, while there were 190 land accidents causing 51 deaths and injuries to 299 people in 2015.

Dubai Police also attended to 64 sea accidents in which one person was killed and 72 others were injured last year, as compared to 56 sea accidents resulting in two deaths and injuries to 69 people in 2015.

“We attended to 49 drowning accidents last year. One person drowned and 66 people were injured, while we had 40 drowning accidents in 2015, with no deaths but with 63 people injured,” Colonel Al Falasi added.

He said the department also has a specialised team to handle metro and tram accidents.

Dubai Police asked the public to call 999 for emergencies and provide accurate details of the location so the police can reach the emergency site in a matter of minutes.

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