Honeymooners' relief to be home after Dubai hotel hit

A couple from Liverpool have told of their relief to be back home after their hotel was hit during a "terrifying" drone strike on Dubai.

Matthew McGinn and Layla Hamood were on honeymoon at the Fairmont Palm Hotel with their three-year-old son when conflict broke out in the region.

They said they were very grateful to finally arrive back in the UK on Sunday.

Hamood said it was a scary experience when debris hit their balcony after an explosion, with her husband adding he was left "sweating" when missile alarms went off "just seconds from take off" when they finally boarded a flight home.

She told BBC Breakfast: "We never thought we'd be in that position.

"You see it on TV and you never think it's going to happen to you. It's been surreal."

McGinn said: "We experienced it first-hand and it was pretty terrifying to be involved in something like that, something you never think you will be involved in.

He said they felt anxiety all week worrying "about what might happen today".

"To see the explosion, to see the flash and all the debris to come up on to our balcony, was terrifying."

He said: "We're lucky with the UAE because their defence system is absolutely top drawer."

He said they initially thought it was a missile strike but an Italian family staying in the same hotel. who were taking pictures of their children when the building was hit, confirmed it was a drone.

"Our instinct was to get outside because we didn't know whether any more were coming."

He said they went onto the beach where "there were more missiles coming over our heads".

"It was awful," he added.

The family were due to fly home on Friday but received an email on Thursday to say the flight was cancelled.

Hamood said they told their airline they would fly to anywhere in Europe - it did not have to be the UK.

"They found us a flight to Frankfurt on Saturday so we told ourselves we'd get another flight from there to Manchester.

"When we got to the airport, we were told we couldn't enter the airport because it was closed.

"Then we had to disembark the plane because they were saying the German airspace wouldn't let us fly in because we were delayed.

"So they found us a hotel, we get to the hotel, and, again, in the night there's more explosions going off."

The following day, they boarded another plane but "just seconds from taking off, the alarms go off on the phone, again, saying missile threats".

"So we're thinking, 'please don't go back to the terminal, we don't want to have to get off this plane'," McGinn said.

All the while, they said they had tried their best to distract their son from the alarms.

"I'll be honest, I was sweating, it was terrifying," McGinn said.

He added that fortunately the pilot took off and "after circling very, very low because there's missile threats in the air", they made it back home.

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