Two city residents found themselves in the middle of a dangerous international crisis on Monday night when Iran launched a missile attack on a US airbase outside Doha in Qatar.
One witnessed the barrage lighting up the night sky from his apartment, while the other was stranded at the airport after being deboarded from his flight home.
Both men spoke to Metro about their harrowing experiences during what nearly became a full-blown conflict. One requested anonymity, while the other is lawyer
Debabrata Roy.
‘Like Diwali’
For one Calcuttan in Doha, the night sky resembled Diwali celebrations back home in India — but instead of festive crackers, missiles streaked across the darkness.
“The sky was lit up. It looked like Diwali in India. Only, instead of crackers, there were missiles,” said the man in his early 50s. “There were two sets — one looked like they were headed towards Doha, and the second lot was sent to intercept the incoming devices.”
The man works for a state-owned energy company in Qatar and has lived in Doha for over three years. His apartment sits on the 36th floor of a West Bay building overlooking the Persian Gulf. He had returned home from work around 5pm local time on Monday when the crisis unfolded.
“With all the speculation about Iran targeting US bases in West Asia, the tension had been building,” said the man, who originally hails from Durgapur and now lives in
Behala.
“Around 7.30pm, the government posted on social media that Qatari airspace was being shut as a precautionary measure. The advisory asked people to stay alert and rely only on verified government communication.”
Soon after, he rushed to the elevator and descended to the ground floor with
many other residents. Anxious faces filled the lobby, with children huddled in their parents’ arms. Occasionally, someone would venture toward the exit to glimpse the night sky.
“From far away, the missiles looked like Chinese lanterns and rockets used to celebrate Diwali back home. The night sky was illuminated,” said the former Rajabazar
Science College student.
Phone calls poured in from worried friends and relatives, including many from India. His son and mother live in Calcutta, while his wife works for another energy company in Kuwait.
The ordeal continued for over an hour, with residents glued to their mobile screens. “I was checking a real-time flight tracker app. It showed Doha-bound flights had been diverted,” he said.
Loud thuds echoed periodically for more than an hour before the “fireballs in the sky” became less frequent. Local social media channels shared what they claimed were “debris of missiles from Iran, which were intercepted by Qatar”.
Around 9.30pm, he finally returned to his 36th-floor apartment. Early on Tuesday morning, he received an email from his employer stating it would be “business as usual”.
Stranded at airport
Debabrata Roy, a Calcutta High Court lawyer, had been visiting his daughter in Sweden and was returning home on a Qatar Airways flight with a stopover in Doha. Roy and his wife Mohua arrived at Hamad International Airport at 5.05pm local time, with their connecting flight to Calcutta scheduled for 6.45pm.
“We boarded the aircraft on time and were waiting for take-off with our seatbelts fastened,” said Roy, a Behala resident. “Suddenly, there was an announcement that the flight was delayed. Then we were instructed to deboard the aircraft and taken to the terminal, but no one explained why.”
Initially, the couple assumed it was a technical problem. Only later did they learn the airport had closed. Inside the terminal, they couldn’t hear or see what was happening outside.
Roy’s daughter called from Sweden, and they asked her to find out what was happening. “She called back and said there was a missile attack by Iran. I panicked because if this continued indefinitely and the airspace remained closed for several days, we would be stranded. I didn’t have enough foreign currency with me,” Roy said.
Qatar Airways staff were courteous but explained they wouldn’t be taken to a hotel because boarding could resume suddenly, and passengers might miss their flights. “We preferred to stay in the terminal anyway. Some locals were getting calls from family members, which helped us get updates about the attack,” Roy said.
Fellow passengers warned them it might be safer not to fly at night when aircraft could be easy targets for missiles. The airline provided refreshments at the food court while they waited. Finally, boarding resumed at 4.30am, and the flight took off at 5.45am. They reached Calcutta safely at 12.50pm (IST) on Tuesday.