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Jennifer and Graham Williamson from B.C. were staying at Fairmont The Palm, a luxury hotel in Dubai, when it was struck by an Iranian drone.Supplied
Graham Williamson and his wife, Jennifer, were having a glass of wine in the ninth-floor lounge at Fairmont The Palm, a luxury hotel in Dubai, when all of a sudden a barrage of missiles and drones flew toward the city. From the patio outside the lounge, alongside other tourists, the B.C. couple watched air-defence systems intercept the projectiles, lighting up the sky. Then there was an explosion, and the hotel shook.
Mr. Williamson, 46, went down to their room to take a look.
He texted his wife, telling her to come down. “We just got hit,” he said.
The Williamsons spent the following days at the pool, watching those air-defence systems at work, before catching a flight to Madrid on Thursday. Mr. Williamson said that, in his opinion, anyone waiting for the Canadian government to help them with flights should instead find their own if possible.
Even with the UAE under attack, most expats feel safe, say they’re not leaving
“Canada’s response has not been underwhelming − rather, they are constrained by the situation. Travellers cannot, and should not, rely on the government to rescue them,” he said, adding that the United Arab Emirates has established a safe air transportation corridor and Canadians can book one-way flights from Dubai to any major European city.
“And my advice is leave now. Calm reassurance should not be taken as a sign not to immediately leave the region by appropriate means, while those options are still available. The situation is incredibly fluid and volatile.”
On Wednesday, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand announced that the federal government was assisting about 2,000 Canadians trapped in the Middle East. She told reporters that she expected charter flights to leave the UAE within the following two days and that seats on commercial flights departing Lebanon had been booked to support Canadians there.
The drone strike on the Fairmont hotel was among the first retaliatory strikes by Iran after last Saturday’s massive attack by the U.S. and Israel.
“It felt like the opening to the war, which it was,” Mr. Williamson said.
Iranian missiles and drones have hit the United Arab Emirates, shaking Dubai’s image as a safe, tax-free haven for foreigners.
The Associated Press
He said the UAE is covering the hotel costs, meals and flight rebooking for foreign guests who are stuck there.
From his hotel balcony that night, as he watched the fire department arrive, he was a little worried, particularly because his background made him aware of the risks.
Mr. Williamson is the CEO of an international emergency medevac company and has extensive experience in conflict areas. He trained as a firefighter and a paramedic, and his work involves rescuing Canadians from abroad when turmoil unfolds.
“You’re cautious about what’s going on and what’s happened and mindful,” he said. “But the firefighters did a great job and cleaned up the mess − and the fire alarm didn’t even go off.”
He said that night their phones buzzed with a warning telling them to take cover. Two minutes later, he could hear a missile flying into a nearby hotel. There was a powerful explosion, followed by another notification giving the all clear.
Travel remains disrupted by Iran war as governments scramble to bring citizens home
In the following days, he said, people sheltered in the parking garage beneath their hotel. He and his wife continued to go out, without venturing too far, just to the mall across the street or to grab a coffee and walk through the park. They spent their days at the pool, watching interceptions and hearing explosions.
“This was a city that maintained its character and maintained its tempo,” he said, even though “things did slow down and many of the roads were quieter.”
He saw one woman stockpiling toilet paper at the mall. “We all had a good laugh because it reminded me of six years ago,” he said, referring to the pandemic.
“I think the government in the UAE and in Dubai in particular has done a phenomenal job of managing the situation. They are protecting people, and we would not have gone out if we didn’t feel confident that we were being protected, but they’re not going overboard. They’re not overdoing it. They’re not panicking people.”
