Dubai’s ultra-wealthy are repurposing their fortified panic rooms, originally built to guard against kidnapping and theft, as bomb-proof shelters in the Middle East conflicts.
Among them is former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand, 47, who moved to Dubai with his wife Kate, 34, and their children, two-year-old Shae, five-year-old Cree, and Rio’s 14-year-old daughter Tia, last August. The family spent the first night of the disturbances sheltering in the basement of their roughly their £6.5 million (US$8.7 million) mansion.
“We were advised to go into the basement on the first night that all the noise started, and we were down here sleeping with duvets and stuff. We are utilising the space wisely.” Kate reassured her social media followers with a simple update: “We are safe.”
“Although Cree and Shae loved it, as theycouldn’t believe we all got a sleepover in the basement.
Inside the Marble Palace, one of Dubai’s most expensive properties. Photo from Instagram/@commercial_interior_design |
To maintain some sense of normalcy, Kate shared footage of herself working out in the underground space, normally used as a home gym, while Rio said the family had been exercising together and homeschooling the children, echoing routines from the days of Covid. Even so, the usually upbeat Ferdinand admitted the situation had rattled him. “I’ve got to be honest guys, it’s been a bit of a scary situation.”
He wasn’t alone. Ebraheem Al Samadi, a Kuwaiti-American entrepreneur and cast member of Netflix’s Dubai Bling with an estimated net worth of around £38million, posted a video from what appeared to be his own underground gym to reassure his 1.2 million followers that he was safe, according to the Daily Mail.
One of the city’s most expensive properties, the Marble Palace, located in the exclusive Emirates Hills neighborhood and sold last year for around £86 million, is also believed to come equipped with several bomb-proof panic rooms and a private power substation.
British TV presenter Luisa Zissman also described hearing two large explosions that shook nearby homes while she was about to head outside with her children. “We retreated and then heard another two,” she said on Instagram. “So now movie time in the basement.”
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