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.
Strikes on Dubai
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.
By evening, police had sealed off the area as crews swept shattered glass from the street. Part of the building’s facade was blackened and visibly damaged.
Derek Thompson, a Scottish tourist staying at the hotel, said he and his family were eating dinner around 6:30 p.m. Saturday when they heard what he described as an enormous explosion.
“It was an absolutely crazy explosion, and we just ran for cover,” he said. “We thought another one was coming, so we went to the beach to get away from the buildings, which we thought could collapse.”
After returning to their room and smelling smoke, the family packed and checked out early. With the airspace closed, leaving the country was no longer an option.
Thompson said he had followed tensions in the region but never imagined Dubai would be directly hit. His wife, Victoria, a frequent visitor to the city, described the experience as terrifying and said she is now unsure when she would feel comfortable returning.
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.
Ghost town on a weekend
Dubai was almost unrecognizable on Sunday
