Tourist Rescued After Being Stranded In Airport For 100+ Days

An Estonian man named Roman Trofimov was recently stranded at Manila airport in the Philippines for over 100 days due to traveling restrictions caused by the worldwide pandemic.

Trofimov was traveling on March 20th from Bangkok, Thailand to Manila, Philippines on board AirAsia when the entire ordeal began.  Upon arriving in Manila, he learned that he was unable to leave the departures area due to the government no longer issuing visa for arrivals because of pandemic restrictions imposed by the government.  The airline AirAsia was also unable to return the passenger to Thailand due to new restrictions with the virus.

From March 20th until July 7th, Trofimov was stuck in the departures zone of the airport.  He was forced to sleep on the ground and only survived on snacks and food donated by airport employees.

AirAsia told the passenger that he had to wait for the “Enhanced Community Quarantine” to end in order to be permitted to fly.

Trofimov began to suffer from malnutrition, lack of sun, and fresh air.  He made several pleas on social media and to the Estonian government, but they could not provide him with a repatriation flight.

Statements from the Estonian foreign ministry were quoted as saying that Trofimov had flown to the Philippines after warnings about the virus had been shared, and he took the trip with full acknowledgment that something could happen.

Another fact shared by the Estonian government was that Trofimov was using a “grey passport”, which means he is not an Estonian citizen, but lives in the tiny Baltic country.

After a period of over 110 days, Trofimov was allowed to fly back to Estonia and to finally leave Manila airport.