Mumbai, March 3 (IANS) Bollywood actress Esha Gupta has returned home safely after being stranded in Abu Dhabi following a sudden missile scare amid the growing tensions in West Asia, and expressed gratitude to the UAE authorities and the Indian government for ensuring the safety of passengers.
Esha took to Instagram, where she wrote a long note sharing her experience. She wrote: “Back home. Thank you all for your prayers and wishes. It was very tough to be in the situation that we all were. Truly gods blessing to safe!”
The actress revealed that the situation unfolded on the afternoon of the 28th while she was at the airport.
It started when I was at the airport on the 28th (Sunday). By 1pm the airport was closed, chaos all around as none of us knew what happened. Then the news started coming of the missile attack and no one knew what the next minute held for us. Strangers consoling each other, all calling their families back home,” she wrote.
Esha said she witnessed firsthand the resilience of the UAE while she was at the Abu Dhabi International Airport.
“The ground staff and airport security immediately lunged to action and stayed calm throughout even though we were all in this situation together. I hadn't checked in myself by then so I took a turn and left back to my hotel in Abu Dhabi. Following are the stories that we heard first hand from the people we met later in our hotel that night,” she said.
She added that she returned to her hotel as she had not yet checked in for her flight. Later, at the hotel, she heard accounts from fellow passengers about the arrangements made for those stranded at the airport.
“First, they gave all the passengers possible cash for food at the airport. Ofcourse everyone had to wait to get their luggage and for the authorities to sort things. But after few hours, each and every passenger had to be in a cue and they were all given accommodation at all the available hotels in Abu Dhabi. By 9pm that night, they had buses ready for transfers to different hotels across the city and island.”
According to her, the government had already directed hotels to provide stay and food even before the news was widely reported.
She added: “Again, this didnot mean that they had strangers stuck in rooms, but they made sure only families or friends were together. We all were getting notifications alarms on our phones by the MOI of UAE to seek shelter. We also were getting reassurance alerts when situation seemed calm to them.”
Esha also praised hotel staff and essential service providers for continuing their duties amid uncertainty.
“The hotels management I saw, in the same clothes as last night, still working still active and taking care of everything, answering to the questions what they were unaware of as well to the best of their ability.”
“The delivery men(Careem) were still out there delivering. There was no shortage of any service anywhere. The lobby was full of people, including us due to the security alert, scared, but no chaos. The hotel security kept reassuring everyone.”
“Not once did we see the people, all scared internally but no one created stress, we all were in this together. Etihad had sent us all mail/messages for rebooking or refunds.”
“We kept calling the airline in the hope to be on the next flight home, didnot matter the city till we can land back in our own country. The ground staff on calls of the said airline were the most helpful and again, very calm, we had reached the airport much before so were lucky enough to be on the first commercial flight of Etihad which flew to Delhi yesterday afternoon.”
“The airport was not fully functional, yet, the staff was ready to help in every way to answers even they didnot know yet.”
Concluding her note, Esha expressed appreciation for coordinated efforts by authorities.
“All this shows just the backbone of a country and its strength, they took action when needed, no blaming anyone, just strong decisions. Thank you to everyone who helped and are helping people of the world to get back to their home. Your country is truly special,” she said.
She also thanked the Indian government and the UAE leadership for working together to ensure the safe return of citizens.
“Thank you for our government for providing its citizens with reassurance and working towards getting us all back.Thank you to uae government in working in solidarity with every country for the citizens of the world! Radhe Radhe,” she concluded the post.
--IANS
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