‘A full war’: S’poreans trapped in Dubai, Qatar recount shock over Iran’s retaliatory strikes
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Smoke rising over a damaged hotel in Dubai's famed Palm Jumeirah on Feb 28.
PHOTO: REUTERS
SINGAPORE - Singaporean Sat Lunasky had switched off her lights, ready to sleep, when her phone buzzed to life past midnight, telling her to seek shelter as debris was expected to fall
“That was when it hit me that this was a full war,” said the 53-year-old consultant, who was scheduled to leave Dubai on March 3 after spending a month setting up her business there.
Alarmed, she grabbed her emergency bag and sped down to the underground carpark in search of safety, only to return about an hour later to wait for further instructions from the authorities.
Following US-Israel strikes on Iran on Feb 28
Singaporean marketing professional Sheryl Ho was monitoring the news in her Dubai home when she heard the first explosions, and then the roar of fighter jets.
Speaking to The Straits Times on March 1, the 28-year-old said: “The scale of the attacks was what surprised me as I definitely did not think landmarks in Dubai would be targeted.”
She has since packed a bag with necessities and closed her curtains to protect herself from shrapnel.
In another part of the city, a life coach who wanted to be known as Mr A. M. was shopping with his wife for his daughter’s wedding at a mall on Feb 28 when the shops started shuttering throughout the day.
The Singaporean, who has lived in Dubai for a year, said: “We have never seen it as empty as it was yesterday. It was a ghost mall.”
The 58-year-old added: “The air smelt like burnt rubber and haze.
“A lot of people were heading down (the apartment block where he lived), saying ‘it is not safe to be in the building’, and many slept in the basements, corridors and cars just to feel safe.”
Overnight, the couple were constantly jolted awake by the boom of missiles being intercepted overhead.
A plume of smoke from Fairmont Hotel in Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah on Feb 28.
PHOTO: MR A. M.
Falling debris remains the biggest risk at the moment, said the Singaporeans, with interceptions resulting in potentially deadly remnants falling from the sky.
Most people have chosen to stay at home, they added. Occasionally, explosions can be heard, but these seem to be attacks targeted mainly at military bases and strategic targets, said Ms Lunasky, who is waiting for more information about when air spaces will re-open.
Said Mr A. M.: “The food delivery riders say this is the most number of orders that they have received.”
His friends and colleagues who have lived in Dubai for more than two decades have told the couple that they have not seen the UAE city impacted to this extent in the past, despite the region’s conflicts.
He said: “This time, it is pretty bad. When I look out of my balcony at (Dubai’s famed man-made island) The Palm, I can see that it is still smokey.” The couple hope to leave the city as soon as possible, to limit the risk of missing their daughter’s wedding.
However, some, like Singaporean homemaker Selena Ahmad Alkaff, who is based in the Qatari capital Doha, are choosing to stay put.
The mother of three received a message at noon on Feb 28 to stay at home or find a safe place, just minutes before she heard explosions.
She said: “The impacts were above our buildings, among the clouds. So, at first, we could only hear them, like distant fireworks.
“But as the hours passed, it got more and more intense. We could see each of the missiles meant for the US military base being intercepted by at least two or three Qatari drones.”
The assault went on from the afternoon to the evening.
“We were shocked that it didn’t even stop for the breaking of fast in this holy month of Ramadan,” added Ms Selena.
Other Singaporean families she spoke to do not plan to leave Qatar.
She said: “We trust the government of Qatar to keep us safe from the missiles that are aimed at the US military base that is located far from the city centre.”
Following the strikes, all schools have allowed home-based learning, and work-from-home arrangements are in place indefinitely for nearly every office and company, according to Ms Selena.
She said: “This is a huge relief to us as adults and parents.”
