‘Things just continued to escalate’ – Irish man on the targeting of Dubai
An Irish man living in Dubai has described the “chaotic” scenes he witnessed when the conflict broke out on Saturday.
Ballindine, Co Mayo man Denis Óg Fahey, who works in Dubai as a teacher, said the explosions heard in the region on Saturday were “the scariest thing” he has experienced in the time he has lived in there.
He told RTÉ Radio 1’s Morning Ireland he was attending a GAA competition that had just finished on Saturday when there were “loud thuds” that sounded like thunder.
“At first, there was people looking upwards to see what was going on, and then people pointing, you could see missiles overhead.
“And we kind of thought, ‘right, we’ll head home, that’ll be it for Saturday evening’.
“But then, things just continued to escalate into Saturday evening and the panic continued.”
Mr Fahey said the missiles flying through the air were like “fireballs” and as the strikes continued, the scenes “didn’t feel real at all”.
“As the evening went on, the thuds became more and more frequent, and here I live in a high-rise apartment, so you could see people rushing to their balconies when you’d hear these blasts of thunder, just staring up to the sky.
“You could see the missiles then as you looked out, and around midnight, everyone’s phone went off with this loud emergency alarm, telling us to seek shelter, stay away from windows, stay inside.
“Not long after that, you could hear more and more interceptions overhead, so a lot of panic Saturday night.”
As the war enters its fourth day, Mr Fahey said things are much calmer in Dubai now, but people are still “shaken” by what took place over the weekend.
“The noise, the alerts, that has stopped, but people are still shaken.
“I think it’s just allowed everyone to breathe again, even if we’re still very much taking it one day at a time.”
Darragh Nolan