ABU DHABI // An African diplomat was admitted to Rashid Hospital with a broken leg and multiple fractures a week after mysteriously disappearing.
John Opiti Apiet, from South Sudan, arrived in the UAE on May 6 from Juba to connect to an Emirates flight to Islamabad leaving from Dubai International Airport's Terminal three.
According to the South Sudan ministry of foreign affairs and international cooperation, Mr Apiet was in a group of three South Sudanese diplomats who left Juba travelling to Pakistan to attend a six-week training course.
But the group became separated and lost contact. The next the ministry heard of Mr Apiet was when they were notified he was being treated in the Dubai hospital.
Mr Apiet has declined to give any comment on the incident.
However, the ministry said that the three diplomats had been together during check-in but that Mr Apiet walked off. His two colleagues, who proceeded to Pakistan, were told that Mr Apiet had lost his passport.
When they arrived, on May 6, aboard flight EK 612, they informed the ministry of what had happened.
The ministry then contacted the UAE embassy in Addis Ababa. On May 12 the minister Nhial Deng was informed that Mr Apiet was in a hospital with multiple fractures.
The South Sudanese ministry of foreign affairs declined to comment further. It has sent two diplomats to coordinate with UAE authorities.
The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to requests for comment.