'Your heart just sinks' - Teacher and pupils stranded in Dubai due to Heathrow shutdown

Record ID: 1984865

  • Title: 'Your heart just sinks' - Teacher and pupils stranded in Dubai due to Heathrow shutdown
  • Date: 21st March 2025
  • Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (MARCH 21, 2025) (REUTERS) ROUNDABOUT NEAR ARRIVALS AT HEATHROW AIRPORT, EMERGENCY SERVICES AND MAINTENANCE CREW ON SCENE POLICE VAN PARKED AT THE SIDE OF ROAD DUBAI, UAE (MARCH 21, 2025) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) PRIMARY SCHOOL HEADTEACHER STRANDED IN DUBAI WITH EIGHT PUPILS, JANE DAVIS, SAYING: "We were just leaving the apartment thi
  • Embargoed:
  • Keywords: AIRPORT BRITAIN DUBAI FIRE HEATHROW LONDON PLANE PLANES SHUTDOWN TRAVEL UK
  • Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM / DUBAI, UAE
  • City: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM / DUBAI, UAE
  • Country: UK
  • Topics: Disaster/Accidents,Europe
  • Reuters ID: LVA001072321032025RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: A British primary school teacher and eight pupils on a school trip in Dubai were left stranded following the shutdown of Heathrow Airport on Friday (March 21).
    "Your heart just sinks," said Jane Davis, headteacher of Lanchester Primary School, about hearing news of the disruption.
    However, after the initial disappointment of not returning home to their families, Davis said children and school staff had "made the most" of an extra day in the Dubai sun.
    The group now hope to get a flight to Scotland, and get a train back to their school.
    But until tomorrow morning, they are staying in their Dubai hotel.
    Huge orange flames and plumes of black smoke shot into the sky around 2300 GMT on Thursday (March 20) as a blaze engulfed a substation near Heathrow - Europe's busiest airport and one of the world's major transfer hubs.
    The blaze also cut the power supply and the local area's back-up system.
    Police said that while there was no indication of foul play, they retained an open mind and counter-terrorism officers would lead the inquiries, given their capabilities and the critical nature of the infrastructure.
    (Production: Sophie Royle, Eleanor Whalley, Vitalii Yalahuzian)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2025. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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