‘Explosions every day’: Virginia woman on her way to a wedding in India is stuck in Qatar

Arlington, Virginia, resident Anjali Sharma — stuck in the Middle Eastern since Saturday — documents her story on social media from a hotel in Doha, Qatar.

“I think it really hit me when I saw black smoke coming from afar on one of the buildings, and it ended up being a missile that got defused, and the debris fell on the ground and caused an explosion,” Sharma said.

She was on her way to a wedding in India and had a layover in Qatar when Iran’s retaliatory strikes began. The airspace in Qatar and several other nearby countries is closed.

Sharma is alone. She says the rest of her family she was supposed to meet with had their flights canceled.

She says it’s incredibly unsettling.

“I hear explosions every day,” Sharma said. “I hear planes going outside. I mean, I still hear military jets, right now. I don’t really know what that means.”

She is one of several thousands of Americans stranded in the Middle East. The State Department said it’s assisted almost 6,500 Americans since the conflict began.

Sharma says she hasn’t been able to get any clear guidance.

“I would just really appreciate it if the U.S. government could get clear guidelines of what they’re going to do to get us out and when that even may be,” she said.

U.S. Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., has been critical of the Trump administration’s evacuation efforts. He says his office has heard from about 100 families whose loved ones are stranded abroad.

“The primary reason the State Department exists is to serve Americans living abroad, and they’re desperately failing at that, right now,” he said.

The White House said the secretary of state issued Level 4 travel advisories dating to January. But Qatar was not one of the countries given a do-not-travel advisory.

The State Department Wednesday created a new form for stranded citizens to fill out. They say it will provide departure information about available aviation and ground transportation options.

Sharma hopes it’s her ticket out.

“I just want to get out of here safely at this point.”