Heathrow baggage chaos: It could be several days before Ustad gets his 'sarod'

It may be ‘several days’ before Ustad Amjad Ali Khan gets his ‘sarod’, which has been missing for over 48 hours after he returned to India from London on a British Airways flight, Heathrow authorities said on Monday.

It may be ‘several days’ before Ustad Amjad Ali Khan gets his ‘sarod’, which has been missing for over 48 hours after he returned to India from London on a British Airways flight, Heathrow authorities said on Monday.

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A Heathrow statement said that the baggage system at Terminal 5 had experienced intermittent IT issues, due to which some bags were processed manually, resulting in the backlog.

“Our engineers are closely monitoring the system and we are working hard with British Airways to reunite passengers with their bags as quickly as possible. Passengers are receiving bags all the time but it will take several days for all bags to be processed and reflighted from Heathrow”, the statement added.

The 'sarod' maestro performed at the Tagore Festival in Devon on 21 June.

Heathrow authorities advised passengers that though they could check-in bags as normal, essential items should be carried in hand baggage where possible.

Apologising for the disruption caused, the statement said personnel were working round the clock with British Airways to reunite passengers with their bags as quickly as possible.

The baggage backlog has affected a large number of passengers.