Middle East war: Antrim man in Dubai recalls sense of panic after being evacuated to basement of hotel
An Antrim man, who is currently in Dubai has admitted his ‘heart has stopped’ on several occasions with strikes hitting the city.
Explosions have been heard in multiple Gulf states as Iran vowed to carry out its “most intense operation” ever in retaliation for the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The 86-year-old was killed in a US-Israeli attack on Saturday morning, raising concerns about an escalation of tensions across the Middle East.
Jonny McKinney, who owns PING Group, an aircraft and cargo handling business, arrived in Dubai via Poland on Thursday with his wife, Katy.
They had planned to have business meetings as well as signing paperwork after buying a property in the city.
However, their stay has since proved to be somewhat different after US and Israeli forces attacked Iran on Saturday morning in what the two countries described as a “pre-emptive” strike against a Tehran government intent on developing nuclear weapons.
Since then, retaliatory strikes have been reported in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar's capital Doha, Bahrain and Kuwait.
"We were sitting having drinks around 4.45pm on Saturday and then heard bangs above us and saw puffs off smoke,” he said.
"Understandably, people around us started to panic and we saw on social media about the advice to stay inside.
“We called it a night around 7.30pm and upon going back to our hotel, we noticed a strike on the Fairmont Hotel, which was just two doors up from us and the flames were visible.
"We managed to get into our own hotel and the ground floor was busy as people probably didn’t want to be on a higher floor in case the hotel was hit.
"We went to bed about 10.30pm and the bangs were regular but at 2.15am we were woken up with the repeated alarm system asking residents to evacuate to the basement. That caused a sense of panic as it felt like a real life-situation and it was highly congested down there but the staff were amazing.
"We were allowed back to our rooms around 4.30am and I wakened again around 9am on Sunday to banging noises in the sky. The UAE government has been issuing advice to phones about staying away from windows and to stay inside.”
Mr McKinney is due to fly back home directly from Dubai to Dublin on Wednesday – but he doesn’t know if this will proceed.
Despite the fear for safety, he also explained how people are still going about their day-to-day business in the capital.
"There are still a lot of people trying to get on as normal,” he added.
“Restaurants and bars are still open and our hotel continued to offer entertainment.
"UAE seem to be doing a good job at keeping people calm...we know people who live here full-time and they have discussed their high levels of comfort with the country’s defence systems.
"However, any bang I hear now, regardless whether it’s a strike or something falling on the floor beside me, it stops me in my tracks.
"As I’m talking to you now...the bangs in the sky are starting again.”
One relief for Mr McKinney has been his ability to contact friends and family about their ongoing situation.
He concluded: “As you can imagine my phone has been busy.
"We have three grown up children, so it’s been good to keep them updated, as well as our parents and siblings, who are understandably very worried.”