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NEW DELHI: Several Indian passengers have been left stranded at Kuwait Airport after a Gulf Air Bahrain-Manchester flight (GF5) of Dec 1 was diverted there due to a technical reason. Since Indians are not eligible for visa on arrival (VoA) in Kuwait, there are not able to leave the airport and the Indian embassy there is trying to assist them. What has added to the stranded Indians’ woes is that a meeting of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in Kuwait has meant hotels are nearly sold out.
Gulf Air GF5 had taken off from Bahrain at 2.05 am on Dec 1 for Manchester where they were to land after 7.5 hours. However, a snag forced the Boeing 787 Dreamliner to instead land at Kuwait at 4.01 am (all timings local). Then the nightmare started for Indian travellers — who were travelling one-stop via Bahrain to the UK — on board this aircraft as many other foreign nationalities were eligible for VoA in Kuwait and were able to leave the airport while they got stranded there.
Shivansh, a software engineer among the stranded passengers, said on X (former Twitter) almost six hours after the aircraft landed in Kuwait from his handle @shiv4nsh : “Reading (foreign minister S Jaishankar’s) Why Bharat Matters while getting stuck in Kuwait without any help. All British passport holders got their hotels sorted with VoA while Indian passport holders have been left stranded without any info, food, or any kind of help.”
Sai Samrat Anandapu, anotehr passenger Tweeted from his handle @SamratChintu: “I was traveling from Hyderabad to Manchester with a transit in Bahrain. Our flight started at 2.10 am, but after 1.5 hours the left engine caught fire, leading to an emergency landing in Kuwait City. We’ve been waiting for support for over six hours, but only British nationals and GCC residents have been accommodated, leaving us Indians without assistance. There are children and elderly among us, with no confirmation about our flight to Manchester. Please provide accommodation as we need to freshen up and attend to our daily needs.”
The Indian embassy in Kuwait said on X (former Twitter) Sunday night: “Embassy had immediately taken up the matter with Gulf Air in Kuwait. A team from Embassy is at the airport to assist the passengers and coordinate with the airline. Passengers have been accommodated in 2 airport lounges. Efforts are being made accommodate passengers in airport hotel which is currently unavailable due to ongoing GCC Summit. It may be noted that Indian nationals do not fall under Visa on arrival facility in Kuwait. All government offices are closed today due to GCC Summit being hosted by Kuwait.”
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