Sharjah/Dubai: Three people died of eloctrocution in Sharjah and a 60-year-old Arab woman died in a freak accident at the Global Village on Saturday, police said.

The three died of electric shock from fallen live wires in separate incidents, when they were walking, police said. An Arab man died at Al Yarmook and two Indians in the industrial area.

The woman died from her injuries when a signboard from the Indian pavilion at the Global Village broke loose and fell on her due to gale-force winds.

The flying board also hit a man who was treated for crtical injuries and is now in stable condition, Colonel Omar Shams, director of the operations room told Gulf News.

Three other people, including a child were treated for injuries in other accidents at the Village. The Global Village was closed on Sunday.

The Police were inundated with more than 3,400 calls and a spate of traffic accidents were reported. Of the 170 accidents reported, 21 were serious.

Malls affected

The heavy rains caused leaks in the Mall of the Emirates. The area around Ski Dubai was cordoned off and buckets placed to catch the drips.

At Dubai Mall, the car parks and taxi bays were still mostly in shallow water a day after the rains. A convenience store was closed after the plasterboard on its ceiling partly fell away. A statement aid except for these spots, the rest of the Mall was functioning as normal."

Dubai Municipality workers were out in full force on Saturday evening clearing out the ponds of water. More that 380 workers plodded through the night, Abdulmajeed Saifaie, Director of the water and irrigation department, said. The teams were still out there on Sunday morning.

"Only about 8 per cent of the city is not connected to the network, those are the places that we send the tankers to," said Saifaie.

Sharjah - some areas badly hit

In Sharjah, the downpour flooded the roads and driving around was near impossible in some areas. Municipal sources said the drainage could not handle the deluge.

Scores of cars were seen stalled in the water, which was knee-deep at some places as the National Paints Roundabout. The Sharjah Airport put planes on a holding position as flights stacked up.

More then 200 traffic accidents were reported in Sharjah. Colonel Mohammad Eid Al Madhloum, director general of the operations control, said roads badly affected were the Airport Road, Emirates Road, Sharjah Ring Road and Industrial Areas. In some residential areas the flood waters entered their houses. A number of traffic signals were not functioning and Anjad patrols were deployed.

Al Madhloum said 80 school and college buses had broken down. Fallen trees had blocked some roads in residential areas. "I left home at 7.30 in the morning and it took me two hours to reach National Paints, instead of the regular 30 minute journey. There was no way that I could go to Dubai," said Khaled M., a resident in Maysaloon.

RAK police issues warning

In Ras Al Khaimah , police have warned people not to go to the wadis as there could be flash floods and not to swim in the sea for the next few days. More bad weather is on the way, police said.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education has denied issuing any circular ordering the closure of all schools due to heavy rains. - Gulf News