Edmonton teacher's Kuwait airport escape thwarted by Iranian drone strike

Lorelei Loveridge was at Kuwait International Airport Wednesday night, waiting at a gate just minutes from boarding a flight to London and then home to Edmonton, when the air raid sirens sounded.

The Edmonton teacher, who uses a wheelchair following recent surgery, was among thousands of passengers told to evacuate to the airport's basement—staff hallways normally off-limits to the public. "It's an organized s–t show here," she texted as staff and a Kuwaiti teenager distributed water among screaming babies and anxious crowds.

Iranian drone strikes targeted Kuwait's Terminal 1 on June 3, killing one person and wounding 63 more, as conflict escalated between Tehran and U.S. forces in the Gulf. With American military bases and the airport themselves as prime targets, Kuwait remains in the crosshairs. Loveridge, who had been teaching in the country, decided to leave after the school year ended. "The war is getting on my nerves a bit," she said. "I was in a split mind whether or not to chill out in Kuwait. It is annoying that this war has continued. I think the breakdown of the ceasefire means that everything is escalating."

She had previously weathered the first wave of conflict but felt the renewed hostilities and threats to the Strait of Hormuz made it time to regroup mentally and physically at home. The incident highlights the precarious situation facing Canadians abroad as regional tensions remain volatile.