Honeymooners 'petrified' by Dubai missile attacks

A couple on honeymoon in Dubai say they are "petrified" after Iran attacked targets in the United Arab Emirates.

The Foreign Office advised against all but essential travel to Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE after Iran responded to strikes by the US and Israel.

Dane Chalmers from Harrogate is on his honeymoon with his wife and baby daughter. He said they were safe but "very shook up".

"Last night we went out for a meal, ordered our drinks and I said 'have you seen that up there'? There was what would look like a shooting star going the opposite away, and then next thing some explosions.

"Four big clouds of smoke then within 30 seconds we got escorted to a shelter, which was quite distressing.

"It was petrifying, no father, no parent wants to see their daughter in this environment. You can't put words into what it is," he said.

Chalmers, 35, said he had spent the night in the hotel basement with his wife and one-year-old daughter.

"The hotel staff put a tannoy on every room telling us to seek shelter. We had to go to the lobby and their basement. There must have been 300 people in one lobby," he said.

The UK Government advised British nationals to "shelter in place and register your presence".

All flights from Dubai International and Dubai Al Maktoum are suspended until further notice.

Emirates has suspended its operations in and out of Dubai until 15:00 local time (13:00 GMT) on Monday due to airspace closures across the region, while Etihad has suspended flights out of Abu Dhabi until 02:00 local time.

One person was killed and 11 others were injured at airports in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Four of those injuries were among members of staff at Dubai International.

Strikes have also been reported in Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait.

Kieran Marshall, 23, from Bradford, is a travel agent in Dubai and had been visiting hotels when the attacks started.

He said he felt "safe for now" but it was an "ever-changing situation".

"I've been in touch with friends, family and my colleagues back home. They've been working through the night and in the morning to help with any of our customers that are due to travel," he said.

"Everybody in the hotel is still in good spirits and the hotel and the tour operator are being good at looking after us and providing us with updates."

Marshall said he worked with tour operators in the country to set up excursions and hotel recommendations.

"We were conducting a site inspection and then all of a sudden we got the update from the Foreign Office saying they had updated travel advice and then that's when that was when we heard about it," he said.

He advised anyone else stuck in the country to discuss their situation with their travel agent.

"Keep an eye on the Foreign Office website because that will get updated constantly with the most up-to-date advice.

"And then keep an eye on like the airport websites and the airlines websites that you're due to travel with," he concluded.

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