Flight with 12 Israelis makes emergency landing in Malaysia

 

The passengers on board Emirates flight EK354 had to wait five hours on the tarmac after the plane made an unscheduled stop in Kuala Lumpur due to ‘adverse weather conditions’. (AFP pic)

PETALING JAYA: A plane carrying 12 Israelis on a flight from Dubai to Singapore made an unexpected landing in Malaysia yesterday morning.

A report in the Jewish News Syndicate (JNS) said Emirates flight EK354 had to make an unscheduled stop in Kuala Lumpur due to “adverse weather conditions”.

“During their stay on Malaysian soil, the passengers were not required to disembark, and after approximately five hours of waiting on the tarmac, the flight resumed its journey to Singapore,” said Israel’s foreign ministry in a statement, which JNS reported.

Israel has no diplomatic ties with Malaysia.

In a statement, Emirates said it regretted the inconvenience caused.

Meanwhile, JNS reported that on Aug 29, a commercial flight from the Seychelles to Tel Aviv carrying 128 Israelis made an unscheduled landing in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, due to an electrical problem.

The travellers spent a night at an airport hotel, where they were reportedly not allowed to leave their rooms, before leaving on a replacement Air Seychelles plane that was flown in from Dubai the next day.

Israel and Saudi Arabia also do not have diplomatic ties. - FMT