Passengers rushed to evacuate one of the world’s busiest airports on Sunday after a reported Iranian strike, as Tehran targeted travel hubs in US-friendly Gulf states typically regarded as safe, luxury destinations.
Dramatic footage shows people fleeing a smoke-filled passageway strewn with furniture and debris at Dubai International Airport, where officials confirmed four staff had been injured.
Hours later, an explosion near the airport sent a thick plume of black smoke into the air – part of a fresh wave of Iranian strikes across the Middle East on Sunday following the death of Iran’s supreme leader in US-Israeli strikes.
The weekend attacks have caused travel chaos worldwide as airlines cancel flights through key Middle Eastern hubs that have become the target of Iranian retaliation for hosting US military bases.
CNN teams reported blasts in several capitals and major cities on Sunday, including Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha and Bahrain’s Manama.
A wide corridor of airspace over the Middle East was closed this weekend while neighboring countries restricted flights.
Dubai is the biggest tourism and trade hub in the Middle East. Its airport is one of the world’s busiest, serving as a home base for Emirates.
The leading international airline has temporarily suspended all flights to and from Dubai until 3 p.m. local time on Monday.
UAE airports have established themselves as key nodes for connecting flights all over the world. Last year, Dubai and Abu Dhabi’s hubs handled a combined 127.7 million passengers, according to official figures.
After the first incident at Dubai International Airport early Sunday, video verified by CNN shows a passenger in a blood-spattered shirt pressing a tissue to his head while others hurry along a travelator, while a voice is heard saying “go home, don’t stay here.
A concourse at the airport sustained “minor damage” and emergency response teams were “immediately deployed” in Sunday’s evacuation, Dubai Airports told CNN. Four staff were injured.
Passengers at the airport said they’d been given vouchers for hotels for what could be a long wait in Dubai. India’s double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu was among those caught up in the airport chaos as she tried to make her way to the All England Open Badminton Championship in the UK.
“My coach had to quickly run out of the area as he was closest to the smoke and debris. It was an extremely tense and scary moment for all of us,” she said on X.
In Dubai’s ritzy Palm Jumeirah district – a global symbol of the emirate’s opulence and serenity – an explosion hit the Fairmont Hotel, leaving it in flames shortly after videos, verified by CNN, showed the moment a drone appeared to dive toward the ground.
Will Bailey, from the UK, was relaxing at a nearby beach club when he saw missiles being intercepted overhead.
“Oh my days, over the beach club. Literally directly above us… they were so loud” he said on Instagram in a poolside video capturing a plume of smoke overhead.
Elsewhere in the UAE, a drone strike at Abu Dhabi’s Zayed International Airport – another key international gateway – killed one person and injured seven, the airport said in a statement on social media.
Qatar and Bahrain also came under attack, piercing the kingdoms’ polished image as luxurious havens in an unstable region.
Varun Krishnan described “long lines” overnight into Sunday at Qatar’s Doha airport, with families, children and elderly people among those affected by the airspace closure.
“Chaos at Doha airport when we were asked to wait for buses to hotels,” he said on X, sharing video of a packed terminal.
In Qatar, missiles were intercepted over the capital, while officials at Bahrain International Airport said a drone strike has damaged the facility.
Bahrain’s interior ministry said the strike resulted in “material damage without loss of life,” adding that authorities were securing the site.
Videos geolocated and verified by CNN show a large fire at a residential high-rise building in Bahrain’s capital Manama on Saturday and smoke rising from the vicinity of the Crowne Plaza hotel in the city on Sunday.
Dubai Airports confirmed that all flights in and out of the city’s two main airports have been suspended until further notice.
“Passengers are advised not to travel to the airport at this time and to contact their respective airlines directly for the latest updates regarding their flights,” the Dubai Media Office said.
Etihad Airways suspended all flights to and from Abu Dhabi until Monday morning due to regional airspace closures.
Qatar Airways said flights remain temporarily suspended and an update will be provided by 9 a.m. Monday while Singapore Airlines has cancelled its Singapore-Dubai service until March 7.
Virgin Atlantic canceled its flight from London Heathrow to Dubai on Saturday, as “a precautionary measure” and said it is temporarily avoiding Iraqi airspace.
Lufthansa confirmed cancellations of flights to and from Tel Aviv, Israel, citing the safety of passengers and crew members.
British Airways said it was cancelling flights to and from Tel Aviv and Bahrain for several days.
CNN