It was a nerve-racking experience for 16 Queen’s University students and their professor.
The group was on a flight bound for Toronto from Doha, Qatar on Feb 28 after spending two weeks in Sri Lanka on a biology field trip.
Dr. Stephen Lougheed, a professor in biology cross-appointed to the school of environmental studies at Queen’s, explains what happened after they took off.
The US and Israel launched an attack on Iran firing missles and drones towards the middle eastern country.
After the plane landed, the group spent the first few hours at the airport before being bussed to a hotel in Doha where the airline and Qatar Tourism put them up there for a week.
Lougheed says they were treated well at the hotel but it was still an uneasy situation for both he and the students.
With everyone couped up in the hotel, Lougheed says he and the students were able to develop a rapport with other travellers, many of whom are Canadians.
The students documented their experience being stranded in Qatar on a blog. It was that blog that got the attention of international media and later Global Affairs Canada.
Lougheed says he was able to get a hold of someone from the Canadian embassy who then helped arrange ground transportation out of Doha to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
From Riyadh, the group were able to take the next flight to Toronto and landed at Pearson on Monday.
After a few days of well-needed downtime, Lougheed and the students are back at Queen’s resuming their studies.
Lougheed reflects the time the group spent in Doha but says he finds himself and others to be very fortunate.
Story by Ken Hashizume
