On February 28, actor Esha Gupta had revealed that she was stranded in Abu Dhabi as tensions continued to escalate across the Middle East, following missile strikes by the United States and Israel on Iran that led to widespread disruption of air traffic. On March 3, the actor updated that she is back ‘home’ and detailed what she saw and heard in the last couple of days amid the conflict.
‘None of us knew what happened’
In a long note shared on her Instagram account, Esha detailed her experiences. She began, “Back home. Thank you for all the prayers and wishes. It was very tough to be in the situation that we all were. Truly gods blessings to safe! It started when I was at the airport on the 28th (Sunday). By 1 pm the airport was closed, chaos all around as none of us knew what happened. Then the news started coming of the missile attack, and no one knew what the next minute held for us. Strangers consoling each other, all calling their families back home.”
She added, “Here, I would like to mention that what I saw was strength of a country which is UAE. We were at the Abu Dhabi airport. The ground staff and airport security immediately lunged to action and stayed calm throughout even though we were all in this situation together. I hadn’t checked in myself by then so I took a turn and left back to my hotel in Abu Dhabi.”
Esha then shared some of the stories she had heard from people at the hotel. The actor shared that passengers were given cash for food at the airport, and each and every passenger was given accommodation at the hotels which were available in Abu Dhabi. The government had ordered the hotels for their stay.
Esha went on to praise the way in which the hotel management team handled the situation, where everyone worked tirelessly for hours in the middle of all the chaos. “Not once did we see the people, all scared internally but no one created stress, we were all in this together,” she wrote.
Esha added that she was lucky to be on the first commercial flight of Etihad which flew to Delhi on March 2. She concluded by saying, “Thank you to everyone who helped and are helping people of the world to get back to their home. Your country is truly special. Thank you for our government for providing citizens with reassurance and working towards getting us all back. Thank you to UAE government in working in solidarity with every country for the citizens of the world! Radhe Radhe.”
About US-Iran conflict
Last week, joint airstrikes from Israel and the US led to the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khameini. Retaliatory strikes from Iran targeted US bases in the Middle East, including in the UAE and Doha.
The sudden escalation in hostilities has thrown global aviation into chaos, with airports shutting down, airspace closures and hundreds of flights are cancelled or diverted.
Amid continued tensions in Gulf areas, the United Arab Emirates’ civil aviation on Monday said that it will begin operating ‘special flights’ across the country’s airports to allow the departure of stranded passengers. Dubai Airports confirmed that a limited resumption of operations will begin, with a small number of flights permitted to operate from Dubai International (DXB) and Dubai World Central – Al Maktoum International (DWC), the Dubai media office said in a post. “Travellers are advised not to proceed to DXB or DWC unless they have been contacted directly by their airline with a confirmed departure time,” it said.
