West Asia war: 84 Pune students, 20 senior citizens stranded in Dubai return to Mumbai on chartered flight arranged by Eknath Shinde

The students from Indira University, Pune, left for Dubai on February 23 and were scheduled to return on March 1. However, their flight was cancelled and they were brought back on the special flight on Tuesday.

Voices

Khushi Badera, University student
It was a stressful situation but our college took good care of us. They provided good quality food and arranged a chartered flight as soon as possible. The on-ground situation of Dubai was a little stressful, but after we felt safe we enjoyed our stay there. We were staying in a hotel and were not allowed to go out much. It was the greatest feeling when we boarded the flight for India… words can’t describe it.

Kanan Shah, University student
We were in Dubai on an educational tour and had no idea that this situation was about to unfold, leaving us in a shock. We and our parents too were worried about the same question… how we would return to India? We were constantly scanning the sky there to check whether there is anything… maybe an intercepted missile or a plane.

(From left) Keshav Vekhande with his wife and sister-in-law

Keshav Vekhande, Senior citizen
My wife, my sister-in-law and her husband, and I were stranded there with no flights back. We reached out to our Deputy CM Eknath Shinde for help, and we were put on this special flight the very next day.

Sanyukth M, University student
We were in Dubai for our annual college industrial visit. We were there for over a week. Our flight was supposed to depart on the morning of March 1 (Sunday), but it was cancelled due to the war situation. Our parents were very worried. We felt safe after we.