Bahrain Mirror (Exclusive): Over a day ago, 76 of the Bahrainis stranded in Mashhad left for Tehran, then to Doha and Muscat, on their way back to Bahrain. It's a tiring trip but it is their only way to return home. They endured this hardship after their country had delayed fulfilling its duty in evacuating its 1,300 nationals stranded in Mashhad. Since February 24, the Bahraini authorities have returned only about 230 of them.

On Thursday, 10:00 p.m. they arrived in Muscat from Doha, and through the transit route they handed over their passports to Muscat Airport, and were given boarding passes for gulf flight GF563. The flight was scheduled to take off from Muscat to Bahrain, at 12:20 (Muscat local time), 11:20 (Bahrain local time).

Passengers finished checking in their luggage and headed towards the designated take-off gate. At 11:20 a.m. and in front of the gate for boarding the plane, passengers were surprised that the flight was delayed. After 45 minutes, they were told that the flight had been cancelled without explanation.

Their bags were taken off the plane which left for Bahrain. There is no confirmed information whether the plane returned semi or completely empty. Some reported that it arrived in Bahrain carrying a number of other passengers from different places, and some confirmed that it was completely empty.

Despite the widespread discontent on social media outlets over the incident, Gulf Air has not yet commented on why the flight was cancelled or prevented from transporting Bahrainis from Muscat Airport.

At Muscat airport, those responsible for facilitating the trip there contacted the Bahraini embassy and told the passengers that the Bahraini embassy will try to find a plane within six hours.

Now Bahrainis are also stranded at Muscat airport, although this time they are receiving special care and treatment from airport officials, they do not know what awaits them.

Arabic Version