Mobile phones, luxury watches, large amounts of cash and a woman were among the thousands of items reported lost, and then found, at Dubai airports last year.
“Dubai Airport security officers found a total of 169,462 lost items in 2017,” said Brig Ali bin Lahej, director of the General Department of Airport Security at Dubai Police.
“Of the items reported lost, 50,973 were returned to their owners and 5,998 valuable items were referred to the public prosecution,” said Brig bin Lahej.
Brig bin Lahej said police officers at Dubai airports constantly reach out to travellers and contact them if they found lost items that belong to them, even if they have already left the country.
“With millions of people pass through Dubai’s airports every day, it’s inevitable that belongings will be accidentally left behind,” said Brig bin Lahej.
“Recently, an Asian man was travelling from Saudi Arabia to his home country. He worked for several years there and decided to go back to his country. This person was travelling from Riyadh to his home country and landed for few hours in Dubai International Airport. The transit passenger was carrying around Dh20,000, which he forgot at the airport,” said Brig bin Lahej.
Brig Lahej said the Asian man found out he lost his money when he reached his country.
“Our department used surveillance cameras and control systems to identify the person and his destination,” he said.
“When we contacted him to inform him that we found his lost belongings, he burst into tears and said these were his savings,” said Brig bin Lahej. More
By Nawal Al Ramahi thenational.ae
