A Scottish nurse stranded in Dubai after escalating tensions in the Middle East says she “just wants out” after days of cancelled flights left her unable to continue her journey to Australia.
Sarah Kirk, 23, from St Madoes in Perthshire, had planned to spend a few days in the city before travelling on to Bangkok and then Australia, where she is due to start a new job as a nurse.
But the situation changed after a major bombing campaign by the United States and Israel against Iran triggered retaliatory missile strikes across the region, disrupting flights and leaving many British travellers stuck in the United Arab Emirates.
Emergency alert
Sarah, who has worked as a nurse in Edinburgh for the past two years, arrived in Dubai on Thursday and said the first few days of her stopover were completely normal.
The situation only became clear after she returned from a desert safari on Saturday evening.
“We were on our way to do a desert safari and someone messaged asking if we were okay,” she said.
“We didn’t have reception in the desert for the whole day, so we had no idea what was going on.”
But at around 1am she and her friend were woken by an emergency alert warning of a missile threat.
“We got the alert on our phones and it was like ‘oh no, that’s not a good sound’,” she said.
“We could hear massive bangs outside. I don’t know if they were explosions or interceptions.”
“At the start we were both close to tears from being scared. Where we’re from, Perth and Inverness, we’ve never had to deal with anything like this.”
Dubai International Airport (DXB), Jebel Ali Port and two luxury hotels in the city were damaged as a result of the Iranian strikes in recent days.
Social media panic
Ms Kirk said the uncertainty was made worse by social media speculation.
“There’s so many red herrings on social media,” she said.
“Even the Palm, first it was a missile, then it was debris from an interception. It’s hard to know what to believe.”
She added that the online coverage has made the situation harder for family members back home.
“My mum was messaging saying she’s scared for me,” she said.
“I think it’s worse for your family because they’re seeing all the news and social media which makes it seem a lot worse.”
Life continuing as normal
Despite the initial shock, Sarah says daily life in Dubai appears largely unchanged.
After staying inside for two days following UK government advice, she visited Dubai Marina and found the area packed with people.
“People were on runs, restaurants were full and the roads were busy,” she said.
“Dubai Mall was packed and the beach was heaving. People are really just going about their normal lives now.”
Flights repeatedly cancelled
The biggest challenge has been trying to leave.
Her flight was originally scheduled for Monday but has since been rescheduled and cancelled three times.
“It’s been awful communication from Emirates,” she said.
“We’re not getting emails saying it’s cancelled until two hours before departure.”
Sarah says she has tried calling the airline more than 100 times in an attempt to secure a seat on a limited flight.
“I don’t even want to think about reimbursement to be honest,” she said.
“I just want out.”
Emirates has been contacted for a response.
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