At 00:30 local time on Sunday, Luxembourg resident David Cicchetti, who was on holiday in Dubai, was awoken by an emergency alert on his mobile. The message: due to a missile threat, seek shelter immediately and stay away from windows and open areas.
The 25-year-old Italian, and his three friends from Luxembourg, jumped out of bed and ran down 20 flights of stairs to seek cover in the basement. Cicchetti, Chiaretta Saba, Umberto Iannotti and Chiara Comastri waited underground, scared, for almost three hours.
“That was the most traumatising event,” he told the Luxembourg Times.
The warning message received by Luxembourg resident David Cicchetti and his friends early on Sunday morning. © Photo credit: Screenshot from David Cicchetti.
Cicchetti is one of just over 200 Luxembourg residents stuck in the United Arab Emirates, as missile strikes spread across the Middle East.
The conflict follows the United States’ and Israel’s bombing campaign which began on Saturday in Iran, killing the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The violence has now spread to UAE states Dubai and Abu Dhabi, as well as Lebanon and Israel, among other countries. Thousands of holidaymakers in the region are now stranded as airlines, including Grand Duchy flag carrier, Luxair, have cancelled hundreds of flights.
Cicchetti and his four friends landed for a week-long holiday in Dubai early on Saturday morning and were in the swimming pool in the apartment the same day when they saw the first missile fall. The Iranian military had first targeted neighbouring Abu Dhabi in response to the US-Israel attacks.
This photo, taken by Luxembourg holidaymaker David Cicchetti, shows a missile in the sky over Dubai © Photo credit: David Cicchetti
“We saw [heard] a bang, a loud bang and then we saw a cloud in the sky,” he said. At first the group of friends felt confused, wondering what had happened, but they quickly ran inside upon realising.
Cicchetti has visited Dubai many times but said he had never thought “something like that” would happen, and was saddened to see the streets of the Emirati state – usually awash with tourists – emptier than usual.
We are reaching a point where everyone is simply getting used to living with missiles over our heads
David Cicchetti
“The situation here has moved beyond simple uncertainty, it has become a permanent state of limbo,” he said. “What is most striking is how quickly people are adapting to a reality that should be unthinkable.”
“We are reaching a point where everyone is simply getting used to living with missiles over our heads. It’s a surreal “new normal” where the constant threat from above has become part of the daily background noise,” added Cicchetti.
Lebanon experience
Another Luxembourg resident, Lebanese citizen Roy Sebaaly, landed in Dubai on a Luxair flight on 25 February to spend time with his sister, who lives there, and his mother who was visiting from Lebanon. They were at the beach on Sunday when they heard the first explosions in the skies nearby.
“We grabbed our phones to see what was happening,” he told the Luxembourg Times from his sister’s home. “They had announced that the war started.”
For us, coming from Lebanon specifically, we are used to hearing these things
Roy Sebaaly
But he said that there was no sense of panic. “When we understood the situation, we stayed where we were and continued our day,” Sebaaly said.
“I mean, for us coming from Lebanon specifically, we are used to hearing these things,” he said. “So our reaction would not be maybe as exaggerated, or, let’s say we ‘under’ react because it’s something normal, right?”
Roy Sebaaly relaxing in Dubai © Photo credit: Private
Sebaaly, who works in the financial sector as a risk management consultant, was in home office mode on Monday, but colleagues in Luxembourg were asking questions about the situation.
“You know, how the news is perhaps portrayed in Luxembourg is not as clear as what we see here on the ground. So they were worried, and I just told them that today it’s business as usual,” said Sebaaly.
He is full of praise for how the local authorities in Dubai have handled the situation. “While they have been issuing warnings and explaining what is happening, they are also dedicated to making sure people know that daily life has to carry on.”
He is due to fly back to the Grand Duchy, where he has lived for three-and-a-half years, next Sunday.
But with airspace closed and tens of thousands of other travellers having missed flights already, Sebaaly is not sure when he will once again be on Luxembourg soil.
For one thing, his work permit is due to expire soon and he doesn’t want to go through the rigmarole of any bureaucratic problems that may ensue if he is not in the country to renew it.
But the situation in Lebanon is much more worrying. His father and another sister, as well as extended family and friends, are still in the country as it is being bombarded by Israel. “But the more you stay in Lebanon during these years, the more perseverance you have. I guess I may be more scared here in Dubai,” he said.
Influencer’s testimony
Luxembourg TikTok influencer Cynthia Steffen left the Grand Duchy for Dubai when she was just 20 © Photo credit: Chris Karaba
Cynthia Steffen, an influencer and real estate agent from Luxembourg who emigrated to Dubai aged 20, also said the situation on the ground is not as bad as some European media suggested.
“I feel that some of the information being spread in the Western media is false or greatly exaggerated. For example, I have received reports that shopping centres or entire buildings have been evacuated. That is not the reality on the ground,” she told the Luxemburger Wort.
Steffen explained that supermarkets, restaurants, and cafés in Dubai continue to operate normally and remain well frequented. Only a few tourist attractions, such as the Global Village theme park, have been temporarily closed, while schools have switched to distance learning for a few days, and employers have been recommended to work from home.
She said she had appreciated the fact that the Luxembourg consulate in Abu Dhabi and officials from the country’s foreign ministry had personally checked in on her. “I have never personally experienced such a situation before. But overall, there is a sense of calm and prudence here,” Steffen said.
(Cynthia Steffen’s testimony was provided to Luxemburger Wort and was machine translated and edited by Duncan Roberts)
