Thousands of people are stranded across the Middle East as Iran launched attacks across the region in response to a massive and ongoing attack against it by the US and Israel.
In Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, two luxury hotels and its main airport – the world’s busiest by passenger traffic – have been damaged.
The BBC has spoken to people who live in the Emirate, as well as those who are on holiday.
Dubai resident Becky Williams said she saw about 15 missiles “launched from behind my house yesterday”, referring to missiles fired by UAE authorities to intercept incoming Iranian projectiles. “You can hear the interceptions happening in the air.”
Iran’s attacks in retaliation for the US-Israeli strikes continued into Sunday.
On the Palm Jumeirah, Dubai’s luxury man-made archipelago, the five-star Fairmont The Palm hotel was struck by a large explosion.
Debris from an intercepted drone resulted in a “minor fire” on the outer facade of the five-star Burj Al Arab hotel, authorities have said.
One resident was philosophical about their ordeal: “What we’ve lived through over the past 24 hours is a fraction of what others have been living through in areas of conflict so it puts things in perspective.”
Meanwhile, Satya Jaganathan’s weekend plans were foiled by the events. She had initially planned to go on a hike on Sunday morning.
“And here we are, sheltering in place,” she said.
The 35-year-old said her sister’s family and pets had to seek shelter in their apartment because they lived close to the Jebel Ali port, where there was “a lot of debris falling”.
On Saturday, officials said debris from an “aerial interception” caused a fire in a berth at the port, which is the world’s ninth busiest.
“It’s still relatively calm as there are only loud noises every few hours, but it is eerie because this is not the Dubai we are used to,” Jaganathan explained.
Also damaged was Dubai International Airport (DXB) in what authorities have called an “incident”.
Thousands of flights have been grounded to and from the Middle East, in one of the most serious disruptions to global travel since the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We’re very frightened,” said Kate Fischer, a British holidaymaker from Buckinghamshire.
On Saturday evening, she and her partner packed “a grab bag” as the children slept, she said, adding that she “doused bathrobes and towels” in water in case they needed to “escape during the night in fire conditions”.
Sunday, she said, was a strange day.
“It’s a very surreal experience being surrounded by everyone trying to enjoy their holiday and trying to entertain their children whilst we can see visible smoke from nearby areas that have been hit by drones or missiles.”
By BBC News
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