By 
A Tyrone man living in Dubai has described the terrifying experience of witnessing numerous Iranian missiles and drones intercepted over the city at the weekend.
The weapons were reportedly targeting US military bases in Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait. The incidents come after the United States and Israel launched an attack on Iran that killed its long-serving ruler, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Joe Girvin, originally from Edendork, has lived in Dubai’s Sports City for three years, working as a full-time musician.
He recounted that after finishing a gig on Saturday afternoon, he stepped outside and witnessed one of the many missile interceptions that continued into the early hours of Sunday.
“We knew something was going on when all the airports closed on Saturday morning,” he explained.
“I was doing my first gig of the day from 1.30pm to 4.30pm on Saturday when my fiancée texted me to say she had heard two explosions in the air.
“She said they had been told go home and stay indoors, so she came to down to meet me.”
Joe said that as they left the venue where he had been performing, a missile was intercepted right above them, a few thousand feet in the air.
“The debris had hit some parts of the city and caused a lot of damage,” he continued.
“I had a second gig booked that evening at 6pm, so assuming the worst was over with, I made my way to it and it seemed like things were grand. The sky was clear and nothing further had been reported.”
Having finished the first half of his performance at around 7pm, Joe said it had got darker outside.
“I looked up and saw what looked like orange flares in the sky,” he explained.
“After a few seconds, they fizzled out, and within another couple of seconds I then heard numerous explosions.”
Following this, the rest of Joe’s performance was cancelled and he made his way home by 8pm where he reported hearing further explosions late into the night.
“I could feel the vibrations every time one went off,” he said.
“It eventually stopped at about 2am.”
The following morning, the Tyrone man said he decided to walk his dogs, assuming the worst was over with.
“I had only left the house about three minutes when I heard a whistle through the sky,” he explained. “I couldn’t see anything, but again, within ten seconds, I heard two explosions in the distance and I could feel the ground shaking.
“I could see two big clouds of smoke in the sky, however, the issue is that it’s hard to see the debris falling from such a height.”
Joe said that, in order to avoid any further risk, he and his fiancée then made their way to her mother’s house 70 miles outside the city.
“It’s been quiet down here, thankfully,” he said.
“Overall though, it was quite scary, however, the Ministry of Defence have assured the public that whilst it’s not a pleasant situation, they are more than capable of dealing with it.”
