The father of a family that arrived at Dubai International Airport and headed home to Al Ain was shocked when police called him an hour into the  journey and said he had “forgotten” his three-year-old daughter at the airport.

The father and his family did not notice the missing girl until they received the call from an officer asking them to come and collect their daughter, according to an official at Dubai Police.

Brigadier Ali Atiq Bin Lahej, director of the General Department of Airport Security at Dubai Police, said the strange thing was the parents did not notice their missing daughter even though they were almost in Al Ain.

“We found the little girl at Terminal 2 at Dubai International Airport. We checked the security cameras and traced her steps and identified her family. We managed to get the Asian father’s details and called him to come and collect his daughter,” Brig Bin Lahej said.

The man told police that he has a big family and they had taken two vehicles to reach home in Al Ain and did not notice his missing daughter.

“The father was shocked when we told him that he had forgotten his daughter in the airport. He thought she was in the second car,” he added.

After three hours, the family returned to the airport to get their daughter who was very happy to see her family again.

“We calmed the little girl down until the family came. Her family was happy and thanked us for what we did,” Brig Bin Lahej added.

He said passengers often leave behind their luggage but it is rare for someone to forget his/her child.

This was not the first such incident at the airport, though. “Last year, an Iraqi family forgot their daughter while they were leaving the country. We found the girl crying and managed to reunite her with her family just before they left the country,” Brig Bin Lahej said.

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