Friends, family and work colleagues of two
Cork-based Malaysian chefs feared the men had died in Thursday’s doomed
MH17 flight — only to get confirmation almost 24 hours later that the
two men had actually travelled home to Kuala Lumpur on a different
carrier.
Zul 33, and Ujang 38, who work at the Ramen restaurant on Anglesea St in Cork City, had travelled to Dublin early on Thursday morning to get a flight home.
Their families — the two men have eight children between them — had already flown to Malaysia but Zul and Ujang had remained in Cork to help train staff for a new restaurant outlet in Dennehy’s Cross.
The usual route home the men would have taken — and which was used by their families — was the Amsterdam-Kuala Lumpur Malaysia Airways flight. The owner of Ramen, Dave Dwyer, presumed that was how his chefs were travelling this time.
Therefore when news broke at 4.50pm that the plane had been shot down, he feared the worst and realised he needed to get to Zul’s brother who also worked in the restaurant.
“I went straight to Anglesea St, went in and said: “Eddie (Zul’s brother) we need to talk”. I felt like a garda calling to a door. We spoke three times and he listened to the radio. He was blank with shock. He said to me, ‘I have got a huge fright’,”
Both Mr Dwyer and his general manager then spoke to all of the Malaysian chefs in both outlets — they employ 28 from the Asian country — answering any questions where they could.
“We were all convinced he was on the flight,” he said. “The last time we saw him on Wednesday evening, he was going up to Dublin on Thursday morning at 7am by coach. We could not contact him because he was airborne and we did not know where he was.”
Then at 12.50pm yesterday the chefs and Mr Dwyer got a call from Zul telling them that both men were fine. It turned out the two men had flown with Emirates via Dubai because it was cheaper.
“When I spoke to him he said his wife had kept hugging him at the airport. He was shocked by all the attention. They had acted off their own bat. The saving, which saved their lives, was €200 each.”
A Cork man who last week flew on a Malaysia Airways airplane on the same route taken by Thursday’s doomed flight said he got a “bloody fright” when he realised the danger he might have faced on his journey.
Eoghan O’Leary, chief executive of Akari Software in Cork, came in over Kiev in Ukraine, enroute to London’s Heathrow Airport from Kuala Lumpur.
“I had gone out previously about six weeks ago from that flight to Amsterdam out,” he said. “They both use the same route. The London flight goes over Amsterdam and follows the same flight pattern down.”
“I only landed back in Cork airport on Saturday morning and having come through and I remarked to a colleague beside me, “isn’t it amazing there is a war going on down there and you wouldn’t know it”. Because we flew over Afghanistan as well.”
Irish Examiner Ltd.
Airport Parking Ireland
Zul 33, and Ujang 38, who work at the Ramen restaurant on Anglesea St in Cork City, had travelled to Dublin early on Thursday morning to get a flight home.
Their families — the two men have eight children between them — had already flown to Malaysia but Zul and Ujang had remained in Cork to help train staff for a new restaurant outlet in Dennehy’s Cross.
The usual route home the men would have taken — and which was used by their families — was the Amsterdam-Kuala Lumpur Malaysia Airways flight. The owner of Ramen, Dave Dwyer, presumed that was how his chefs were travelling this time.
Therefore when news broke at 4.50pm that the plane had been shot down, he feared the worst and realised he needed to get to Zul’s brother who also worked in the restaurant.
“I went straight to Anglesea St, went in and said: “Eddie (Zul’s brother) we need to talk”. I felt like a garda calling to a door. We spoke three times and he listened to the radio. He was blank with shock. He said to me, ‘I have got a huge fright’,”
Both Mr Dwyer and his general manager then spoke to all of the Malaysian chefs in both outlets — they employ 28 from the Asian country — answering any questions where they could.
“We were all convinced he was on the flight,” he said. “The last time we saw him on Wednesday evening, he was going up to Dublin on Thursday morning at 7am by coach. We could not contact him because he was airborne and we did not know where he was.”
Then at 12.50pm yesterday the chefs and Mr Dwyer got a call from Zul telling them that both men were fine. It turned out the two men had flown with Emirates via Dubai because it was cheaper.
“When I spoke to him he said his wife had kept hugging him at the airport. He was shocked by all the attention. They had acted off their own bat. The saving, which saved their lives, was €200 each.”
A Cork man who last week flew on a Malaysia Airways airplane on the same route taken by Thursday’s doomed flight said he got a “bloody fright” when he realised the danger he might have faced on his journey.
Eoghan O’Leary, chief executive of Akari Software in Cork, came in over Kiev in Ukraine, enroute to London’s Heathrow Airport from Kuala Lumpur.
“I had gone out previously about six weeks ago from that flight to Amsterdam out,” he said. “They both use the same route. The London flight goes over Amsterdam and follows the same flight pattern down.”
“I only landed back in Cork airport on Saturday morning and having come through and I remarked to a colleague beside me, “isn’t it amazing there is a war going on down there and you wouldn’t know it”. Because we flew over Afghanistan as well.”
Irish Examiner Ltd.
Airport Parking Ireland
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