Jamie Mallon, 54 and his daughter Izzy, 27 watched missiles being intercepted over Abu Dhabi skies for five days during Iranian attacks on the Middle East. The duo had arrived in the region for a relaxing getaway as the daughter had just returned from two and a half years of work in Thailand.
However, what was meant to be a Middle Eastern safari turned into an overnight nightmare as Mallon, a financial advisor from Southampton, became convinced that the World Trade Centre Abu Dhabi was an Iranian target. The massive shopping complex, a favourite among visitors, was near their beachfront hotel Khalidia Palace. As soon as the touchdown, the father-daughter found themselves in the epicentre of the Middle Eastern warfare.
Mallon received a security notification on his mobile device informing them that 1,184 drones had been launched at Abu Dhabi in a single day along with eight cruise missiles. While 1,110 drones had been neutralised and all eight cruise missiles had been destroyed, the threat to human life remained starkly evident. “We had been on the beach a very short time when we heard a bang,” said Izzy. “We were in the middle of a war just as we arrived.
It is something that I will never forget,” she added.
A desert escape
After five days of observing surface-to-air missiles destroying the Iranian projectiles, the duo managed to flee across the desert on a six-hour taxi journey worth $547.55. All in order to catch a British Airways flight home from Muscat, Oman. Mallon, a father-of-four shared with the Irish Star that he has Type 1 diabetes, and had carried medication only for the five days of the holiday.
“There was some spare, but I knew that I needed to get back. It’s possible that they found a spot for me on this flight home because of my medical situation,” he said. He kept his wife Julie, informed of their situation on the phone while conducting FaceTime calls to assure his mother, 80, of his well-being. He shared that they had looked for buses but all of the seats were fully booked, adding that they were just glad to be going home. They were given the option of flying out from Doha in Qatar but opted for the road journey to Oman as they wanted to go “straight back to London.” “It was scary and my first thought was for Izzy and getting her home. The hotel insisted on giving us free food and drinks and the United Arab Emirates were amazing in looking after us. I cannot thank them enough,” he added.Mallon and his daughter’s journey is just one of the many similar experiences recounted by tourists who escaped the region as situations escalated amid the Iran-US-Israel war.
Carissa, an American dating coach was on a flight from JFK to Abu Dhabi when it was diverted mid-air and landed in Cairo, Egypt. In order to escape the chaos, she booked a flight back with a different airline through Switzerland, back to Boston which cost her a whopping $2000.
Within the Gulf regions, situations caused airspace shutdown, flight cancellations and mid-air diversions, leaving thousands of passengers stranded with no way to go home. However, the UAE authorities have been praised for providing free hotel and food vouchers to the stranded travellers along with transportation facilities.
