'We are uncertain about our future': Elderly Kerala couple stranded in Kuwait hotel amid West Asia conflict

KOTTAYAM: An elderly couple from Pooyappally, Kottarakkara, who were on their way to meet their daughter in London, are stranded in Kuwait after the connecting flight was cancelled due to the West Asia conflict. Idikkula Kochumman, 81, and his wife Rosamma Kochumman, 69, are now spending anxious hours at a hotel in the Gulf nation.To make matters worse, in the commotion to get out of the airport, they could not collect their baggage which contained their clothes and, more importantly, medicines. They were only given accommodation and they are struggling to buy food as they are not familiar with digital transactions. The couple boarded the flight to Kuwait on Saturday morning. Princy, their daughter who works as a nurse in London, booked wheelchair assistance for them at the airports. They boarded the connecting flight to London when the trouble struck."We had only settled down in our seats. Suddenly, there was a commotion inside the flight and we saw passengers running out carrying their baggage," said Rosamma.The couple were attended by none and they had to walk to the lounge. "We were tired, and it was time for my husband to take insulin. Since we did not have any digital payment systems on our mobile phones, we could not buy food either. Finally, a Nepali girl bought us two burgers and water," she said."We were later asked to walk to the airport's entrance. Our passports were checked at many places. We were asked to board a bus," she said.Rosamma said they were put up in a hotel in Salmiya but payments had to be made digitally. Fortunately for the couple, a relative residing in Kuwait came to their help. "We contacted him and told him about our situation. Initially, he was not allowed to come to our room on the seventh floor and we had to go down in the lift to the reception to collect food. Later on, they allowed him to our room," she said.The couple got a call on Sunday night asking them to come down to identify their baggage. "There were hundreds of bags piled up there, but ours were missing," she said. "We got breakfast this morning, the only time we were served food for free," she said.Kochumman, a retired govt servant, underwent two surgeries recently and is diabetic too. "We are uncertain about our future. I do not know when this war will get over," she said. "We are asked by our children to keep all necessary documents ready, always with us, even while sleeping, so that we can run out of the hotel in case of any emergency," she said.