Aoun Qatar is overseen by the government, and is one of four volunteer groups carrying out desert salvage operations. — Photos: AFP
With the rev of an engine and a last tremendous pull, Raghdan Salem Zodeh's SUV was freed from the sand and rising tides near a resort in the desert state of Qatar.
Raghdan, 47, a Syrian living in the Gulf emirate, had become stuck near the on-rushing tide, his wheels spinning in sea-sodden sand, before volunteers from the Aoun Qatar rescue team came to wrench him out with towing cables.
"The guys here are all chivalrous, they are all helpful," said Raghdan, after waiting just 10 minutes to be rescued.
Raghdan is one of hundreds who head into the desert on weekends in Qatar's cooler months, when expatriates, tourists and locals spill out of the capital Doha to barrel down dunes in all-terrain vehicles or camp beneath the stars.
But winter's steady increase in desert traffic also means an uptick in activity for the rescuers, who offer vital assistance to stranded drivers.
A rescuer from the Aoun Qatar service preparing to assist a vehicle stuck in the sand in Al-Wakrah's Sealine desert.
Raghdan got stuck as he was heading back from the beach near the Sealine resort in Al Wakrah governorate, where sand dunes plunge dramatically into Gulf waters.
"This is a normal thing, everyone that comes to Sealine sees that this happens," he said, shrugging.
"It's not a scary thing."
Mohammed Essa Yousif, an Aoun Qatar team leader, said the group receives 100-200 calls a week.
"Usually the reports that come from the sand or dunes are easier. But the harder reports come from the cars that are under water or the places that are muddy," he said.
The rescue service, which is overseen by the government, is one of four volunteer groups carrying out desert salvage operations in the tiny, gas-rich peninsula.
Most of Aoun Qatar's 35 members are first-aid trained and its teams carry a towing kit, spare tyres, medical equipment and water.
The most complicated rescues can involve joint operations with government helicopters or divers to retrieve submerged vehicles, Mohammed Essa said.
Rescuers towing out a vehicle stuck in the sand in November.
Tareq Ali Saleh, another team leader, said some of them missions are a race against time with limited information.
Recently, he said, the group has received a last-minute call to rescue a vehicle stranded on a beach, "almost fully under the water".
The rescuers had to wait for the tide to go out before they could retrieve it.
In another recent distress call, the group said they had no location for a stranded driver, and by the time they arrived the man had already died.
Just as dusk fell on Sealine, one of Aoun Qatar's teams arrived to yet another routine call-out.
Hassan Rageb, an Iranian living in Qatar, had been waiting about 40 minutes after his car and caravan got bogged down in the sands.
"I don't have experience driving with a caravan attached to my car," he said.
"I got scared because this is the first time that happened to me, and my family is with me."
A newer member of the rescue team, Saad Abdulrehman Ansari, said he was proud to assist "anyone that needs help in the rugged areas or in the desert". – AFP
