Woman relieved to be home after Dubai 'chaos'

A woman, who was stranded in Dubai during the Iran conflict, has landed back in the UK after trying to return for eight days.

Lenise Blom, 73, from Truro, in Cornwall, had been in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for a family reunion when the US and Israel started strikes on 28 February.

She arrived at Heathrow Airport at about 03:00 GMT on Sunday where she was met by her family. Her original flight was due to leave on 1 March.

Her daughter, Afton Southern, said her mum was "safe and well" after her original flights and rescheduled flights were cancelled. She praised airline company Emirates for getting her home.

Southern said: "Mum was enjoying a large gin and tonic at 03:00 this morning, so she's happy..."

On Saturday, Southern said her mum arrived at Dubai Airport and police were turning people away because all flights had been suspended following Iranian drone strikes.

She said her mum had contacted Emirates who booked her a ticket for that same evening once the airport reopened. After queuing, Southern said her mum was told by staff they could not find her booking and discovered her travel agents had "overwritten" it.

Southern said Emirates resolved the issue and put her mum on the next flight.

On Saturday, Blom said it had been "absolute chaos" at the airport.

"I woke up to a load of text messages this morning to say she's safe and well," Southern added.

Blom said she was "immensely grateful" to BBC Radio Devon and Cornwall's Mel Osborne for broadcasting her story, which helped.

"I didn't want to be in lockdown there with the imminent chaos in the region," Blom said.

"I've seen a lot of people in distress trying to sort out transport back to the UK.

"Brits over there are not aware of the best ways to contact authorities or help."

"Emirates were absolutely great with rescheduling my flight..."

Osborne said: "When I saw Afton's plea for help on social media I just wanted to help in some way knowing how worried I would be if it was my mum stuck in a foreign country on her own at such a concerning time."

She added she was "thrilled Lenise is home safely".

Southern said there were thousands and thousands of British people stranded in Dubai.

"Mum said not everyone can use Google or WhatsApp..."

The Foreign Office has opened a booking portal, for British nationals in Dubai who wish to access government charter flights to leave the Middle East region.

The most vulnerable will be prioritised for booking on to charter flights and the Foreign Office has said it will contact those who have registered their presence in the region.

The government began operating flights out of the region earlier in the week from Muscat, Oman. Two have returned to the UK so far and a flight from Dubai is scheduled for early next week.

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