Father of toddler who died in Dubai to sue school

Dubai: A two-year-old boy has tragically passed away, 27 days after being admitted to ICU following a drowning incident at his nursery in Dubai.

On May 19, Syed Raza Abbas was allegedly found hurt in a pool on the premises of his Satwa-based nursery. And on Tuesday afternoon, after almost four weeks in coma, the toddler sadly lost his battle for life.

"With deep regret, I want to inform you that Raza passed away today afternoon," Asher Jaffri, nephew of the boy's father, Safdar Abbas, told Khaleej Times on Tuesday. "The pain and suffering that my family is going through (is immense)," he said.

The family plans to fly Raza's body back to his native Pakistan from Dubai, as soon as possible. His family will accompany his body.

Speaking to this Khaleej Times reporter on Tuesday evening, Raza's heartbroken father said: "I'll be flying to Pakistan for my son's funeral. I will come back and bring the school management to trial. I want them to feel my pain to their core of existence."

On the day of the tragic incident, the staff allegedly found young Raza in the pool, after he was noticed missing at the end of morning playtime.

When Khaleej Times visited the boy's family at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Latifa Hospital on May 23, his father and uncle called the incident "suspicious".

They could not fathom how Raza was able to make his way to the pool alone, without being noticed - especially given the fact it was at least 50m from the play area.

"What we know from the doctor is that he had suffered a cardiac arrest for about 45 minutes," Abbas said at that time.

Raza had only been a student at the nursery for a few months when the tragedy took place. Before the drowning incident, Abbas had made an informal complaint to the nursery's principal about marks found on his son's face. It was the very morning of the incident that Abbas and his wife met with the principal at the school's office.

Since May 19, the nursery has remained closed, with remaining students now attending its sister branch in Deira. One parent, who wished to remain anonymous, said her three-year-old son was transferred to the other nursery on May 29 for an "unspecified period".

Upon hearing the news of Raza's death, she was shocked. "I just don't know what to say; I feel very sad to hear the tragic news."

A second parent, whose daughter was Raza's classmate, was unaware of the young boy's passing. Saddened by the news, he said the nursery has shed very little light on the situation.

"Every day (the management) is giving us new excuses for the nursery's closure. On top of that, they keep asking us to send our child to the Deira branch." Something he is now very hesitant to do.

Little Raza leaves behind a young brother who was born earlier this year, along with his mother, father and a very large and close-knit extended family.

When Khaleej Times spoke to the nursery's lawyer late on Tuesday evening, he said it was doing all it can to "support the investigation".

"We are waiting for the reports from the authorities concerned, but our heartfelt condolences go out to the family of this little boy. This was a tragic accident, and like everyone, we were hoping for a miracle. This is a very sad time for all involved," the lawyer said.