DUBAI, March 1 (Reuters) – Dubai’s international airport and its landmark Burj Al Arab hotel sustained damage as overnight Iranian retaliatory attacks spread across the Gulf states and the wider Middle East, reaching beyond U.S. bases and interests.
Four people were injured at the airport, the emirate’s media office said early on Sunday.
Dubai’s media office said on X that “a concourse at Dubai International (DXB) sustained minor damage in an incident, which was quickly contained,” without giving further details.
It later also confirmed that a drone was intercepted, and debris caused a minor fire on the Burj Al Arab’s outer facade.
Dubai is the biggest tourism and trade hub in the Middle East and its airport is one of the world’s busiest travel hubs.
The Burj Al Arab hotel has long been one of the emirate’s most recognisable symbols. Opened in 1999 on an artificial island off Jumeirah Beach, the sail-shaped tower quickly became an emblem of a city intent on projecting luxury on a global scale. On Saturday, a fire broke out near another hotel on the city’s artificially made Palm Jumeirah Island.
Aviation sources had told Reuters that an overnight Iranian attack damaged one of the terminals at the airport.
Abu Dhabi Airports also said in a post on X that an incident at Zayed International Airport in the UAE’s capital resulted in one fatality involving an Asian national and seven injuries. It later deleted the post.
One of the berths at Dubai’s Jebel Ali Port also caught fire because of debris resulting from an aerial interception, the Dubai media office said in a separate statement.
Iran fired missiles at Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Doha, all key east-west aviation gateways.
Airlines suspended flights across the Middle East on Saturday, including to and from Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Flight-tracking maps showed airspace over much of the region virtually empty.
(Reporting by Alexander Cornwell, Jaidaa Taha and Menna Alaa El-Din; Writing by Andrew Mills and Maha El Dahan; Editing by Deepa Babington and Lisa Shumaker)
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