- City Fajr Shuruq Duhr Asr Magrib Isha
- Dubai 04:31 05:49 12:21 15:48 18:47 20:05
Three Emirati families appear to have got stuck in Austria after an unknown thief stole their passports and money on the first day of their arrival in Vienna while UAE authorities have yet to step in and help them.
The families, including nine adults and four children, arrived in Vienna on Friday and headed from the airport to the hotel, where a man posing as a hotel worker offered to park their car, the semi official daily Alittihad said.
“As we were busy with our baggage, he sneaked into the car and stole our handbags which contained our passports and nearly Dh62,000,” said Mohammed Sultan, who is accompanied with his wife and children as well as two other Emirati families from Umm Al Quwain.
He said police checked security cameras at the hotel but that they do not cover the car parking area, adding that they promised them to hunt down the thief.
Sultan said he then contacted the UAE embassy, which sent an employee to gather information. He said he had not heard from the embassy ever since and this prompted him to contact the UAE foreign ministry.
“I talked to the ministry and explained our ordeal…I told them that we are stuck in Vienna and are running out of money but we have not received any response yet…we have already paid in advance for the hotel until Monday and we do not know what we will do after that day,” he said.
“We are suffering from a very serious problem and bad conditions……..we cannot move properly and do not know what to do when our stay in the hotel expires…I just wonder why the authorities in our country have not taken any measures to support us and help us out of this dilemma.”
Alittihad said it contacted the UAE embassy in Vienna but there was no response because it was closed for the weekend. The paper said it has been in touch with the UAE foreign ministry about the problem and the need to take urgent measures to issue those families with ID documents so they can travel back home.
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