Online Desk: Nearly 150 Umrah returnees headed to Chattogram are stranded at the Sharjah airport after unprecedented rain and floods in the United Arab Emirates disrupted flights, according to bdnews24.com.

The passengers of Air Arabia flight G 9-526 were headed from Madinah to Chattogram when they became stuck in transit at Sharjah international airport around 9pm on Tuesday. As of Thursday morning, the flight has not taken off.

Abu Bakr, who hails from Garjania village in Chattogram’s Raozan, is travelling back to Chattogram after completing the Umrah alongside his mother, younger brother, and sister. Almost half of the passengers are women and children and the difficulty they find themselves in is almost indescribable, he said.

Abu Bakr said the airline has yet to inform them when their flight will depart. They have provided food to the stranded passengers, but have not arranged hotel rooms for them. They have to make do by sitting or laying down on the benches and floors of the airport.

Jubayer Aktar, a passenger from Chattogram’s Korbaniganj, is travelling back home from Madinah with four members of his family. They were sitting by the No. 7 arrival gate at Sharjah airport.

Several passengers – Nadia Ferdous of Chattogram’s Kala Mia Baar, Mohammad Abdul Latif and Rabiul Haque from Sitakunda, Mohammad Yunus of Feni Sadar, and Mohammad Zahir Uddin of Chattogram’s Chawkbazar – expressed their frustration with the airline for failing to arrange their accommodations.

Sajjad Zahir, second secretary of the Bangladesh consulate in Dubai, was contacted over the matter. He said that normal air traffic has been disrupted due to the waterlogging at the Dubai and Sharjah airports and the roads adjacent to them.

“Flights of many airlines, including Emirates, Egypt Air, and Air Arabia are stuck due to the water rising onto the runways of the Dubai and Sharjah international airports,” he said. “The congestion will ease today after the rain stops and the water is cleared from the runway.”

“Many VIP passengers are stranded at the airport. We have expressed our apologies to those Bangladeshi passengers who are in trouble and are trying to communicate with them.”

Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, and some parts of Abu Dhabi have seen unprecedented rain. Many areas saw continuous rain from Monday night to Tuesday night – a sight unseen in 75 years.

The country’s meteorological department recorded up to 254mm of rainfall, equivalent to the country’s total rainfall for two years.

The rain has submerged many roads in water, bringing traffic to a halt. Offices, courts, educational institutions and businesses are also closed.