Chandigarh, Mar 1 (PTI) What began as a leisure trip to Dubai for Neeru Garg, a government college principal from Punjab, soon turned into a nightmare as Iran’s strikes on the city led to airspace closure and left her, along with her family, stranded in Sharjah without cash or essential medicines.
Garg, who is the principal of SSD Girls College in Bathinda, has appealed to the Union government for immediate assistance to help evacuate her and other Indian passengers.
"It was a five-day trip, and thinking it was the last day of the trip (Saturday), we even exhausted all our money (currency in Dirham) as we were preparing to return on the IndiGo flight, which was booked for Amritsar," she said in a video shared on social media on Saturday.
She and some other Indian travellers also claimed they were stuck at the Sharjah International Airport.
"We had completed all formalities, but when we came for a security check at 1.30 pm, they asked us to come at 2.30 pm. At 2 pm, they informed us that all flights had been cancelled,” she added.
Garg claimed that upon asking airport authorities regarding where they should stay, as there was no arrangement for accommodation, they were not given any further information.
"We request the Government of India to hear us out, as many passengers are stuck, and there is panic. People are harassed, many are sick, but no one here is listening to us," she said.
In another video shared on Sunday, the government college principal said they were asked to leave the airport at 10 pm on Saturday as she expressed displeasure over the airline authorities not guiding them in an unknown territory.
"We kept sitting outside the airport for half an hour on Saturday and were wondering what to do next. We checked hotels and all of them were booked. Then we got a hotel 20 km away at exorbitant rates," she said.
"Today, we have been asked to check out of the hotel. We could not understand what to do next. We have run out of cash. Our essential medicines are now not available. Nobody is here to guide us," she added.
Garg claimed attempts to contact the Indian embassy’s toll-free number in the UAE went unanswered. Another Indian traveller at Sharjah airport said passengers were informed of the cancellation around an hour before the scheduled take-off.
"Our appeal to the Indian embassy is that we are stuck. We cannot go outside because our visa has expired. People are scared whether they will be able to come out of it or not," he said.
Another passenger urged the Government of India to arrange for their safe return.
In view of flight cancellations following the escalating security situation in the Middle East, the Ministry of External Affairs on Sunday advised foreign nationals in India impacted by travel disruptions to approach relevant authorities for visa extensions or regularise their stay through the nearest Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO).