New Delhi: Indian passengers traveling from Mumbai to Manchester found themselves stranded at Kuwait airport for 13 hours, facing significant challenges, including a lack of “food or assistance.” The ordeal began after their Gulf Air flight was forced to make an emergency landing due to an engine fire.
A video circulating on social media captures chaotic scenes of passengers arguing with airport authorities. Many of them claimed they were subjected to harassment and accused the airline of favoring passengers from the European Union, the UK, and the US by providing accommodations, while neglecting those holding Indian, Pakistani, and other Southeast Asian passports.
Indian PAX stuck at @KuwaitAirports
since 12 hrs after Manchester bound @GulfAir flight GF005 was diverted. PAX alleged harrasment & also alleged that the airline has provied accomodation to only EU,UK & US citizens. @RamMNK @MoCA_GoI@indembkwt
Video credit: Passenger pic.twitter.com/pBcJDtUMRS— Daanish Anand (@Daanish_Anand) December 1, 2024
Arzoo Singh, one of the passengers told that they requested lounge access, but the airport authorities failed to respond, according to NDTV.
“I am saying this on live television. They said ‘if you’re entitled passport holders, and Indians and Pakistanis are not entitled passport holders’, they literally told us if you’re entitled for a transit visa, only then we can put you in a hotel outside,” Ms Singh said.
“We asked them what about us, people who are not ‘entitled’ as you say? They said we will get back to you. We ran behind them for nearly two hours, only after that we got lounge access. We asked for blankets, we asked for food. They didn’t give. No one even gave us water for the first four hours,” NDTV further quoted Ms Singh.
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Passengers stated that their flight made a U-turn before landing in Kuwait, with the announcement of the diversion coming just 20 minutes before landing. Gulf Air has yet to issue a statement regarding the incident.
“It has been more than 13 hours. There are some 60 passengers… They have been telling us since morning, every three hours, that we would be going home,” Ms Singh added as per NDTV.
“All of us have work tomorrow, people waiting in the UK. We have been trying to reach the embassy,” she said.
“I saw the engine was on fire. There was smoke. After landing, we asked them so many times to at least give us a place to sit. Everyone was sitting on the floor,” Ms Singh said.
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