Salli says nobody can sleep and there are explosions throughout the night
Salli j with best friend Amy Tomlinson, on holiday in Dubai before the attacks began(Image: Salli j)
A woman on holiday in Dubai with her two children, her fiancé, and best friend, feels like they are “sitting ducks” and can’t sleep all night due to the sound of explosions all around them. Salli Oliver, from Grimsby, known as Salli J on social media, was expecting a relaxing break in the UAE before it turned into a nightmare.
On Saturday, luxury Dubai hotel Fairmont The Palm was hit as Iran launched strikes in retaliation for ongoing attacks by the US and Israel, the BBC reported. All flights in and out of Dubai International (DXB) and Dubai World Central (DWC) are suspended until further notice.
Posting chilling updates from her TikTok @sallijofficial, the mum has numerous videos where she describes the chaos, frequently interrupted by loud bangs in the background. The group is staying at a five-star hotel in the Al Jaddaf locality.
“Within 24 hours of us getting here, there were explosions,” Salli told Grimsby Live. “When we got the siren alarms on our phones, the lifts didn’t work so we had to run the flights of stairs to the basement.”
Salli said children and babies were among those sheltering in the basement when the explosions were going off, with the atmosphere tense. She witnessed many people “in shock” and said it has “not been a good time at all”.
In a clip posted yesterday, she said was sat in a chair outside the hotel when there was a “massive bang” which was “really close”. She said: “The whole ground shook. Everybody just jumped up and ran back inside.”
Salli has her two children with her and said they have been “up and down with emotions”. They are unsure what to do, with flights cancelled and potentially no way of getting home on their scheduled departure date of Thursday, March 5.
“Our travel insurance will not cover anything to do with terrorism or war,” Salli explained. While everyone remains “frightened”, she said some hotel guests have the mindset of “we might as well go out and enjoy the rest of our holiday” and have started to venture out again.
It costs £2,000 a week for five people to stay in Salli’s current hotel. With swimming pools closed, Salli said they spent one entire day “sat in limbo in the lobby” wondering what would happen next.
In her latest update filmed outside the hotel, Salli said roads were back open and she was considering going for a walk on a beach. Salli said they were “damned if they do, damned if they don’t” because missiles could strike anywhere, so she believed they were not necessarily safer inside the hotel.
The Foreign Office advised British Nationals in the UAE to register their presence with the UK government to receive updates on the situation. Its current advice for anyone in the UAE is to “shelter in place”.
It said: “Due to reported missile attacks, British nationals in UAE should immediately shelter in place. Remain indoors in a secure location, avoid all travel and follow instructions from the local authorities.”
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