PV Sindhu
Hyderabad: India’sbadminton star PV Sindhu, who was stranded at the Dubai Airport en route to Birmingham as flight operations were suspended owing to escalating tensions between Iran and the US-Israel, shared her harrowing experience from Dubai and said the last few hours have been extremely tense as there were sounds of interceptions and explosions very close to where she and her team were holed up at Dubai Airport.
Sindhu was travelling to Birmingham for the prestigious All England Open, which starts on Tuesday, and had a layover in Dubai on the way. But she was stranded at Dubai airport due to major flight disruption.
In a video message she said, “I was transiting from Bengaluru, where I train and live full-time now, to Birmingham in the UK to compete in the All England Championship. And, once our flight landed in Dubai, events beyond our control began to unfold, and shortly after the airspace also was shut down. And the last few hours have been extremely tense. We could hear the sounds of interceptions overhead, and a few hours later, there was an explosion very close to where we were holed up at Dubai Airport.”
She further said, “Currently, we are safe now and have been moved to a more secure place. I’m deeply grateful to the Dubai authorities and the staff at Dubai Airport. Also, we’ve been incredibly tireless in ensuring everyone’s safety. With so many passengers stranded, their hands were understandably tied, but they showed genuine empathy and care towards everyone going through this difficult experience.”
“And I would also like to sincerely thank the Indian High Commission in Dubai for their extraordinary support. And when I reached out requesting assistance, the high commission immediately responded and, on high super priority notice, deployed his team to help us,” she said.
Dubai airport has already suspended all the operations till further notice.