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Stranded for over 13 hours, Indian passengers allege poor treatment at Kuwait airport
Arzoo Singh, one of the stranded passengers, said they were unable to leave the airport since they did not have a transit visa.
Around 60 Indian passengers of a Mumbai to Manchester flight who were stranded at the Kuwait International Airport for several hours on Sunday alleged that they were not provided food, accommodation or basic assistance during their extended wait.
The passengers were reportedly stranded for more than 13 hours after their Gulf Air flight GF 005 was diverted due to a technical snag.
Arzoo Singh, one of the stranded passengers, said they were unable to leave the airport since they did not have a transit visa, whereas UK and US passport holders were allowed to exit due to the availability of a transit visa on arrival.
The situation escalated as passengers took to social media, prompting the Indian Embassy in Kuwait to intervene.
"After we raised the issue on social media, senior officials from the Indian Embassy in Kuwait reached out to the Indian passengers stuck at the airport," news agency ANI quoted Arzoo Singh as saying.
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Indian Embassy steps in
Singh said that after discussions, airport authorities agreed to accommodate senior citizens and passengers travelling with infants at a facility inside the airport. However, she added, there was no clear information about how the rest of the passengers would be accommodated.
"Indian embassy officials are in talks with the airline to arrange an alternate flight at the earliest," she later said.
Another passenger, Shivansh, who was also on the flight, also took to social media over the matter. "Reading Why Bharat Matters while getting stuck in Kuwait without any help. All British passport holders got their hotels sorted with on-arrival visas, while Indian passport holders have been left stranded without any info, food, or any kind of help. Please help and provide us a visa so that at least we can get a hotel and wait for the next flight," he said in a post on X.
In response, the Indian Embassy in Kuwait shared on X, "Embassy has been informed by Gulf Air that the flight for stranded passengers from Kuwait to Manchester is tentatively scheduled at 3.30 am on 2 Dec. This is being conveyed to all passengers by the Embassy team at the airport."
Later, the Embassy informed on X that a team from Embassy was at the airport to assist the passengers and coordinate with the airline, adding that passengers have been accommodated in two airport lounges.
Arzoo Singh had claimed that the passengers were told they were not entitled passport holders. "I am saying this on live television. They said 'if you're entitled passport holders, and Indians and Pakistanis are not entitled passport holders', they literally told us if you're entitled for a transit visa, only then we can put you in a hotel outside," NDTV quoted Singh as saying.
"We asked them what about us, people who are not 'entitled' as you say? They said we will get back to you. We ran behind them for nearly two hours, only after that we got lounge access. We asked for blankets, we asked for food. They didn't give. No one even gave us water for the first four hours," Singh had alleged.
