Edmonton family’s hope for safe route out of Middle East waning as conflict escalates

A family from Edmonton is trapped in Qatar due to escalating violence in the Middle East. CTV News Edmonton's Nicole Lampa reports.

An Edmonton family’s resolve is wavering after days of being stranded in Qatar amid escalating conflict in the Middle East.

Nirmal Beniwal, his wife, and their 12-year-old daughter and eight-year-old son finished a four-week vacation in India at the end of February.

Had war not broken out, they would have been back in Edmonton by now, their children back in school.

“You can hear the big bang boom sounds in the air. And at the same time, you can also see those white lines in the sky when something like that happened, so it’s pretty visible. And then, when the explosion is happening, you can feel the vibration where you are,” Beniwal told CTV News Edmonton Thursday morning.

“It is a really, really scary situation… I think today it was more intense compared to other days, because generally like two to three explosions. But today we hear, like continuously, seven to eight explosions.”

First, their flight from New Delhi to Doha, Qatar’s capital, on Feb. 25 was delayed by two days.

The family did leave Doha on a flight to Dallas on the 28th, but the plane circled the sky for a few hours before returning to Doha and making an emergency landing. That was the day the U.S. attacks on Iran began.

Although the Beniwals are being provided food and shelter, and they have registered with the Canadian government, they say they have not received any information as to how or when they will be able to leave Doha.

Some 2,000 Canadians had requested help leaving the Middle East as of Wednesday, according to Foreign Affairs Canada.

The Canadian government is securing charter flights out of the United Arab Emirates, but says there are no options to do so in Qatar, as the airspace is fully closed.

To those who have a ticket out of an airport in Saudi Arabia, Qatar Airlines is providing bus transfers. Israel is also bussing people to Egypt.

However, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand on Wednesday warned Canadians in the Middle East that there are risks with ground transportation, such as debris from missile interceptions, and that staying put can sometimes be the safer option.

“Canadians should — no matter which country they are in — only travel when it is safe to do so and follow local advice," Anand said.

Beniwal said his children are traumatized and scared. Turning the TV up has not drowned out the noise of explosions outside.

“We were hoping something was gonna happen, but after this attack this afternoon, all our hopes get shattered again,” he said, issuing a plea to Canadian officials listening:

“They have to intervene because you never know how much it’s gonna be escalated.”

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Nicole Lampa and The Canadian Press