A 53-year-old Indian worker in the UAE has missed a special repatriation flight after he dozed off at the Dubai International Airport, a media report said.
P Shajahan, who worked as a storekeeper in Abu Dhabi, was supposed to fly to Thiruvananthapuram on the Emirates jumbo jet chartered by the Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre (KMCC) Dubai, Gulf News reported.
It was the first-ever jumbo jet chartered for repatriation.
Shajahan, who had paid 1,100 dirham (USD 300) for the ticket, said that he did not sleep on the previous night as he kept on waiting for the confirmation of his ticket for the jumbo jet flying 427 stranded Indians to Kerala, it said.
He reached the airport early in the morning and after finishing the check-in procedures and rapid test, he reached the waiting area of the boarding gate at Terminal 3 around 2 PM local time, the report said.
“I sat away from most of the others. But I fell asleep after 4.30 PM,” he said.
S Nizamudeen Kollam, who coordinated the charter flight, said that the airline officials could not trace Shajahan when the flight was to take off.
“He woke up and called us after the flight left. It is sad that he missed the flight, which was the first-ever jumbo jet chartered for repatriation. We are now trying to send him on another Emirates flight that we are chartering on Saturday,” Kollam said.
Since Shajahan did not have any money, Jasimkhan Kallambalam, organising secretary of KMCC Thiruvananthapuram, went to the airport to meet him on Friday.
“Since his visa was cancelled, he could not come out of the airport. He had only eaten the snacks in the kit KMCC had given. We managed to give him some cash for buying food through KMCC volunteer Alamsha Latheef,” Kallambalam said.
In March, another Indian expat had fallen asleep in the same terminal and missed the last flight home before flights were suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
He was stranded here for over 50 days before getting repatriated.
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one day snake must come out from rat hole...that day we will wait
Dear DC Dr. Harsha, we want to know if you will take strict action on these anti nationals / rowdis / day robbers / terrorists who ransacked auto + beaten the auto driwer and stolen Rs. 10,000 from him though he was legally transporting the meat. They same terrorists are involved in transporting live animals to beef export houses in Gujrat owned by Brahmins / Jains. Will you be loyal to your duty and promise. We will see how you will handle the issue failing which you will lose our respect and we will consider you as a dramabaz and phenku. You should follow the law and treat everyone equally. There should not be any pity on goondas/ terrorists belonging to sangh parivar. The terrorists who thrashed the auto driver and damaged the auto and burnt the meat by pouring kerosene are not human beings and should be treated as anti nationals + terrorists. We hope you will discharge your duty as per the oath taken by you while accepting your post.
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