Northumberland tourists in Dubai speak out after Iran missile attacks on UAE
Tourists in Dubai during its attack by Iran have shared their experience.
Holidaymakers looking to find winter sun have been left shocked after Iranian drone and missile attacks have been fired towards the United Arab Emirates (UAE) over the past few days.
Morpeth couple, Vicky Jansen and Richard Rutherford are currently in Dubai visiting their family who have lived in the country for over 20 years.
On Saturday morning, the family were out for brunch at the Dukes Hotel, extremely close to the Fairmont which erupted into flames later that day after an attack on The Palm.
Vicky explained: “It was all fine to begin with then when it all hit off, we were having a brunch right next to the Fairmont.
“We came home at around 4pm then it came on the news that the Fairmont had been affected. We then had an alert in the middle of the night saying to stay indoors and there were a couple of massive blasts.”
Vicky, however, feels that the situation is being well taken care of by the UAE and assured that the situation wouldn’t put her off returning.
"It was very surreal but bizarrely at no time did we feel threatened,” she added. “We were actually playing golf today and we’ve watched missiles being taken out overhead.”
Eyemouth resident Jack Crowe, owner of Borders Competition, is currently stuck in Dubai where he is on holiday with his partner.
He explained: “We have been here for ten nights having the greatest holiday ever then all of a sudden it kicked off on Saturday morning.
"The first thing I heard, my friend sent me the news and he was like, ‘you've come at a crazy time’, but I didn't know what he meant.
"Half an hour later, we were lying on the beach and we heard three massive explosions and it shook the whole ground. At first we were not thinking it was real then when it got closer it got pretty terrifying, we just wanted to escape.”
Jack’s scheduled flight home was cancelled and he is now hoping to leave the country as soon as possible.
"We are stuck,” he added. There hasn't been much communication from the UK or reassurance so I feel like we have been left in the dark a little bit. “