Malaysians stranded in Dubai land safely at KLIA

 They had been stranded since Feb 28 due to the conflict in the Middle East.

The Malaysians stranded in Dubai following the closure of Middle Eastern airspace arrived at KLIA last night. (Bernama pic)

SEPANG:

 A group of Malaysians stranded in Dubai since Feb 28 due to the Middle East conflict arrived home safely via Emirates flight EK342 last night.

The aircraft touched down at KLIA Terminal 1 at 9.40pm.

The wave of attacks by the US and Israel on Iran on Feb 28, as well as Tehran’s retaliatory strikes across the region, forced the closure of a significant portion of Middle Eastern airspace, impacting flights worldwide.

At least eight countries announced the closure of their airspace when the conflict erupted, namely Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and the UAE.

Pirativ Rao, 30, said he and his parents joined a holiday tour to Europe on Feb 17 but became stranded in Dubai due to the airspace closure.

“A total of 18 people in the tour group began the journey (to Europe) on Feb 17 and were supposed to return to Malaysia via Dubai on Feb 28, but our flight was cancelled after news of the bombings in Iran,” he told Bernama.

He said they were forced to stay at a hotel throughout that period, and expressed gratitude to the UAE government and Emirates airline for providing accommodation and food to the stranded passengers.

“The most distressing experience occurred when the emergency alert system issued a notification regarding potential missile attacks. We received an alert at around 1am advising us to stay away from the windows and high areas.

“We panicked and were immediately taken (by hotel staff) to the ground floor to take cover,” he said.

He said they also heard several explosions at night, believed to be from defence systems intercepting missiles.

“We couldn’t sleep all night because of the sound of explosions and the alerts. It was a terrifying experience as we had never been through a situation like that before. We feel very grateful to finally return to Malaysia,” he said.

Umrah guide Shaifuddin Hashim, 63, who was stranded in Jeddah, said his original flight was scheduled to depart on March 1, but he was informed of a delay upon his arrival at the Jeddah airport.

“Alhamdulillah, the accommodation was comfortable and food was provided. We just waited until we were informed that the flight on March 5 was confirmed,” he said.

He said the atmosphere in Jeddah at the time was normal without any signs of panic.

“Throughout the four days we were there, things proceeded as usual. People were seen carrying out their daily activities as normal,” he said. - FMT