It’s a great show of support from the UAE…

In a touching gesture of support from the UAE after the shocking blast that rocked Beirut, Lebanon on Tuesday, August 4, 163 passengers arriving to Dubai International Airport from Beirut were handed white roses and messages of support.

The initiative was carried out by the passenger operations team from Dubai Customs at DXB Airport. The passengers had arrived into Terminal 3 on an Emirates flight on Sunday, August 9. Dubai Media Office said it was a ‘gesture of support for the Lebanese people’.

According to The National, the flowers bore a note with a message that quoted Sheikh Zayed, the Founding Father, reading: “Rebuilding Lebanon is like rebuilding the UAE.”

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Dubai Media Office posted a number of touching photos of the event to its official Twitter account. The images were met with a very positive response from Twitter users. @Majedaridi74 wrote “Thank you Dubai, a small gesture means the world to the Lebanese people in these horrible times.”

The distribution of the flowers comes after it was announced on Wednesday, August 5, that His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai had sent 30 tonnes of medical aid to the country.

This medical aid included trauma kits, surgical supplies and personal protection equipment (PPE), provided by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC). It was transported using the UAE ruler’s private 747 jumbo aircraft.

The shocking explosion is said to have been caused by a fire igniting 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate in a warehouse. At least 158 people have been confirmed to have been killed and 6,000 others have been injured by the blast.

Image: Dubai Media Office