DUBAI // Sohaib Munir knew something was very wrong as he sat on Emirates airline flight EK603 at Karachi Airport on Sunday night.
His fears were shared by fellow passengers as frantic text messages from worried friends and families beeped through to them. But they had no answers.
Elsewhere in Jinnah International Airport, a fierce gun battle had erupted between Taliban terrorists and the Pakistani army as security forces fought to regain control.
“There was real tension among the passengers because we didn’t know what was going on,” said Mr Munir, 27.
“I couldn’t see or hear anything about what was going on outside but people started getting messages that the terrorists had attacked the airport.
“There was a lot of confusion about what was going on and I think the flight crew didn’t know either.
“By the time we got back to the terminal I could see soldiers and military vehicles around the aircraft. It looked like they had cordoned off our area of the airport.”
Mr Munir was travelling to Dubai for a friend’s wedding.
“Our flight had been scheduled to take off at 10.30pm but had been already delayed by 30 minutes,” he said.
“Then the pilot told us that we would have to go back to the terminal for operational reasons.”
The only real source of information was Farooq Sattar, a senior member of the secular Muttahida Qaumi Movement party, who was also on the plane.
“He was in regular contact with government officials and he would then relay that information to the rest of us,” said Mr Munir.
Back in the terminal, the pilot told his passengers that the plane had returned for security reasons, and that fierce battle was raging about two kilometres away.
Hundreds of travellers, including those from two other airlines, then spent the rest of the night at the airport lounge.
“No one was allowed to leave the airport and we stayed there all night,” said Mr Munir. “At around 6am we were told the army had regained control of the airport and that the airport would be fully operational again by midday.
“But then at 11am, we were told there were three more terrorists who needed to be found so the airport didn’t start again until 2pm.”
Some passengers were offered alternative flights and, after a few more delays, Mr Munir’s Emirates flight finally departed about midnight.
“We were told that the original crew could not take the flight so we had to wait for another Emirates flight,” he said.
Mr Munir, who travels between Pakistan and the UAE for business, is due back in Karachi on Saturday.
“I think the army have made the airport much more secure and are on constant patrol,” he said.“They have also put up barbed-wire fencing at the areas the terrorists came in so I hope it will be safer now.”
The attack on Sunday was followed by another at a training camp for the Airport Security Force about a kilometre away from the airport on Tuesday. Responsibility for both was claimed by the Pakistani Taliban.
The militants had attacked the old terminal at the airport leaving 37 people dead. Among the victims were seven members of UAE air services provider Dnata’s ground crew.
“We are deeply saddened to confirm that seven of our colleagues have died as a result of the attack and two others have been injured,” said a spokesman for the company.
“We are providing full support and assistance to their families and to all of our colleagues in Karachi. We are working closely with local authorities. Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone who has been affected by this incident.”
nhanif@thenational.ae
