JEDDAH: A Saudi woman student has invented a special swimsuit that she claims can save children from drowning, an online publication reported Friday.

Asma bint Abdullah Al-Hakami, who is a master’s student at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, said she invented the swimsuit because of the rising number of child deaths by drowning across the world.

Al-Hakami, who earlier worked with a technical college in Najran, said the swimsuit consists of an airbag around the body, a GSM signal generator to locate the child, water pressure sensor, air pump and main controlling unit.

The sensor works by detecting the water level around a child. If it reaches a certain level and pressure, an airbag opens and a sensor sends out a signal to the mobile phones of parents or guardians.

She is currently still developing the device and would soon present it for use.