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29 March 2024

Passport left in plane leaves Indian stranded in Abu Dhabi

Published
By VM Sathish

An Indian who set out from his hometown in Kerala, India, to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, early this month was stranded in Abu Dhabi airport for five days... as he had forgotten his passport in the plane.

Mohammed Ali, who was transiting via Abu Dhabi, was issued an emergency certificate by the Indian Embassy before he could continue to his destination. In the meantime, the airline officials managed to find the original passport for him.

Ali had set out from Calicut to Riyadh via Abu Dhabi on March 6. However, the flight, which was due to land in Abu Dhabi at 7.30am was diverted to Al Ain due to heavy fog. The plane reached Abu Dhabi airport only by 3pm, said sources close to Ali.

After a couple of hours, Riyadh-bound passengers were asked to board the connecting flight. However, after waiting in the aircraft, the passengers were asked to deplane again for some reason, sources close to Ali told Emirates 24|7.

That was when Ali forgot to pick up his passport that he had kept on the seat in an envelope.

As soon as he realised that he had left his passport in the plane, he attempted to get it. But it was against security rules to let passengers board the plane again. Officials promised to retrieve his passport, sources added.

Though the connecting flight to Riyadh was ready for departure, he did not get his passport. Ali was stranded in the airport for four days.

Finally on the fifth day, Abu Dhabi Police and his friends in Riyadh alerted the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi about his plight.

Speaking to Emirates 24|7, TP Seetharam, Indian Ambassador to the UAE, said: “An official from the Embassy went to the airport and issued an Emergency Certificate. There is a standard procedure to issue an Emergency Certificate after getting a police report.”

He said, the Indian Embassy officials got a copy of Ali’s passport by email from Riyadh and issued the Emergency Certificate after verifying his credentials and ascertaining that his case was genuine. The embassy officials could not take action earlier because nobody approached them, he added.

The ambassador said Indian nationals facing any problem can approach his office or other Indian embassy officials.