NEW DELHI: About 80 medical students returning to India from Iran on a fourth evacuation flight were stranded in Dubai for most of Monday after a drone attack near Dubai International Airport.
After finally reaching Dubai amid repeated flight cancellation announcements, the students found themselves in a precarious situation when the airport — the world’s busiest for international traffic — was shut for most of the day following the incident.
Their flight eventually departed Dubai in the late evening and is expected to reach Delhi by 9.20 pm, nearly 12 hours behind schedule.
However, many of the students missed their connecting flights to Srinagar from Delhi. They are drawn from several universities across Iran.
Reports said the drone attack caused a fire that spread to one of the airport’s fuel tanks. The airport announced a shutdown of operations, and Emirates, FlyDubai, IndiGo, Air India, Air India Express and SpiceJet cancelled flights for most of the day.
The students were scheduled to reach Terminal 3 of Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport at 9.55 am on Monday after travelling from Yerevan airport in Armenia to Dubai.
Speaking to TNIE, Jammu and Kashmir Students Association national convenor Nasir Khuehami, who is in touch with the students, said, “The second leg of their flight from Dubai to Delhi was delayed due to operational disruptions caused by the drone incident at the airport. They have now boarded the same FlyDubai flight and it will reach Delhi tonight. They are very upset as most of them are from Srinagar and had booked connecting flights from Delhi to Srinager.”
The J&K government on Monday also cancelled the free bus service arranged earlier from Delhi to Kashmir as few students opted for it and instead made personal arrangements to travel by flight or private buses.
Notably, two flights carrying Indian students reached India on Sunday, one to Delhi and another to Mumbai. A third flight landed at IGI Airport at 4 am on Monday.
200 students stuck at Azerbaijan border
Meanwhile, nearly 200 students remain stranded at the Iran-Azerbaijan border as they have not received visas to enter Azerbaijan.
“They are staying in hotels on the Iran side waiting to get visas. We need the Indian Embassy to help them,” said Dr Mohammed Momin Khan, vice president of the All India Medical Students Union.
“One flight from Azerbaijan left for India. Of them, 17 students were from SBUMS University and they have reached Mumbai while 3 students from ARAK University reached Delhi,” he said.
