'It's eerie' - Dubai on edge as city comes under attack by Iran

BBC

For two days now, Dubai residents have mainly stayed indoors as missiles and drones hit their city - part of an attack launched by Iran across the region in response to the latest massive and ongoing attack against it by the US and Israel.

Luxury hotels and their main airport - one of the busiest in the world by passenger traffic - were damaged.

The BBC has spoken to people living in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and those on holiday, who describe situations far from the usual flow of daily life.

Resident Becky Williams said she saw about 15 missiles "launched from behind my house yesterday", referring to missiles fired by UAE authorities to intercept incoming Iranian projectiles. "You can hear the interceptions happening in the air."

But she added that she and her family were remaining calm and trusted the UAE military to defend its airspace, saying she believed it would "all blow over soon".

Iran's attacks in retaliation for the US-Israeli strikes continued into Sunday.

On the Palm Jumeirah, Dubai's luxury artificial archipelago, the five-star Fairmont The Palm hotel was struck by a large explosion.

Debris from an intercepted drone sparked a "minor fire" on the outer facade of the five-star Burj Al Arab hotel, authorities said.

Another Dubai resident told the BBC: "What we've lived through over the past 24 hours is a fraction of what others have been living through in areas of conflict so it puts things in perspective."

Meanwhile, Satya Jaganathan's weekend plans for a hike on Sunday were foiled by the events.

"And here we are, sheltering in place," she said.

Airport damaged

The 35-year-old said her sister's family and pets had to seek shelter in their apartment because they lived close to the Jebel Ali port, where there was "a lot of debris falling".

On Saturday, officials said debris from an "aerial interception" sparked a fire in a berth at the port, which is the world's ninth-busiest.

"It's still relatively calm as there are only loud noises every few hours, but it is eerie because this is not the Dubai we are used to," Jaganathan explained.

Dubai International Airport was also damaged in what authorities have called an "incident".

Thousands of flights have been grounded to and from the Middle East, in one of the most serious disruptions to global travel since the Covid-19 pandemic.

Judy Trotter was supposed to return to London from her holiday on Saturday, but was told that all flights had been cancelled when she arrived at the airport.

"I've met people who were very upset about their travel plans, there were thousands of people in the airport, I met people who told me they were missing funerals," she said.

She added that many passengers were "in transit, just passing through" and are now stuck. Read more here: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20lggwk134o