Tourists Run for Cover as Missile Hammers Luxury Dubai Hotspot
Iran launched retaliatory strikes after President Donald Trump’s attacks.
AFP via Getty Images
Tourists were sent into a panic when a missile hit a luxury hotel in the United Arab Emirates on Saturday, engulfing it in flames.
Clips circulating on social media showed the moment Fairmont The Palm in Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah island was hit by a strike in the chaotic aftermath of President Donald Trump’s attack on Iran.
Trump launched his war from a hastily constructed space in Mar-a-Lago with (left) John Ratcliffe, the Director of the CIA, (fourth from right) Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, and (second from right), Dan Scavino, his golf caddy turned aide.
White House / X
One video verified by the BBC showed the sky turning orange as a massive explosion hit the hotel entrance. The clip ended in a large plume of smoke.
The incident was captured from multiple angles.
British influencer Will Bailey, who was at the scene when it happened, appeared shaken in videos posted to his Instagram account.
“We knew stuff was going on, and then all we’re seeing was that the missiles being intercepted overhead for four or five hours, and nobody was really paying much attention,” he told GBN News. “As we were leaving, that’s when that happened at the Fairmont Hotel.”
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Bailey later informed his followers that they evacuated the scene. Fairmont The Palm is a glitzy beachfront hotel in an exclusive island community boasting nearly 400 rooms.
Influencer Will Bailey posted a video showing smoke coming from the neighboring hotel, reportedly the Fairmont, in Dubai.
Screenshot/Will Bailey/Instagram
“We’ve moved away from mainland Dubai to somewhere quite far out. We can still hear and see missiles overhead,” he said. He posted other videos before the strike on the Fairmont of aerial clashes happening “over the beach club.”
Multiple clips posted by CNBC TV18 showed a huge fire at the hotel as dark plumes of smoke rose up.
Smoke from a reported rocket interception is seen in the sky over in Dubai on February 28, 2026. Explosions rocked major cities across the wealthy Gulf on February 28, as Iran launched waves of reprisal attacks after US and Israeli strikes, raising fears of a wider conflict.
-/AFP via Getty Images
Dubai authorities have confirmed that an incident occurred in the Palm Jumeirah area, but did not name Fairmont The Palm. The Daily Beast has reached out to the hotel for comment.
Four individuals sustained injuries and received medical attention, the Dubai Media Office said.
“The safety and wellbeing of residents and visitors remain the highest priority,” it said in a statement.
The U.S. Mission to UAE earlier issued a shelter-in-place advisory “due to regional hostilities.”
The artificial Palm Jumeirah islands in Dubai were hit by missile strikes following the U.S. and Israel's launch of an attack on Iran.
NurPhoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images
The Middle East was roiled by mayhem after the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran, escalating months of tensions over its nuclear program.
Iran said the strikes killed dozens of schoolgirls and retaliated by attacking UAE, Qatar, Jordan, and Kuwait—all home to U.S. military bases.
“It has always been the policy of the United States, in particular my administration, that this terrorist regime can never have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said in a video address. “They’ve rejected every opportunity to renounce their nuclear ambitions, and we can’t take it anymore.”
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