A man in his early 20s drowned after he jumped into the sea to rescue a camel he thought was drowning, though the animal was unharmed.
Rescuers recovered the body of the Sudanese man who was drowned, the UAE police said.
"The camel came out unharmed," said investigation director Major Khalid Ali Obaid Al Ali.
Ali said the victim had taken the camel to the sea, along with his sponsor and two other Asians.
"On coming closer to the sea, the camel hurried towards the water, got into the water and the Sudanese man jumped into the water to rescue it... But instead the poor guy drowned and the camel floated," he was quoted as saying in the local media reports.
Ali said residents informed the police about the incident as those accompanying the victim raised an alarm.
Many people dived into the sea to rescue the victim but could not find or rescue him, he said.
The police rescue team and coast guards also rushed to the scene and were joined by the Sharjah air wing to locate the missing man, he said, adding that it took rescuers around four hours to locate the victim's body about 200 m off the sea shore.
