Indians travelling to the UK have found themselves stranded at Kuwait airport for more than 13 hours on Sunday following an emergency landing. The Mumbai-Manchester flight was forced to make an emergency landing some two hours after taking off from its Bahrain stopover. Passengers reported seeing “the engine on fire” as smoke billowed out and the flight prepared for an emergency landing.
“We flew from Bahrain for Manchester but because of Squawk 0077 emergency we had to land at Kuwait but airport authority are saying that they will only provide hotels for British and EU citizen as they can get visa on arrival. Can you please intervene?” an X user asked the Ministry of External Affairs.
Indian officials however said that the situation had been complicated by an ongoing GCC Summit in the country.
“Embassy of India in Kuwait 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 two airport lounges,” Indian authorities said as the posts went viral on social media.
“It has been more than 13 hours. There are some 60 passengers. We asked for lounge access if possible, they did not get back to us. They have been telling us since morning, every three hours, that we would be going home. All of us have work tomorrow, people waiting in the UK. We have been trying to reach the embassy,” another passenger told NDTV.
Visuals of Gulf Air passengers arguing with the authorities have also gone viral on social media. The affected commuters have alleged harassment and claimed that the airline only provided accommodation to EU, UK and American citizens.
“Efforts are being made accomodate 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,” the Embassy said.
