Dubai, March 26 (IANS): An Indian expatriate was stranded at the Abu Dhabi airport in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for five days, while on way to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, after he mistakenly left back his passport in an aircraft while changing flights.

Mohammed Ali, hailing from the south Indian state of Kerala, took an outgoing flight from his hometown Calicut to Riyadh transiting through Abu Dhabi March 6.

After deboarding in Abu Dhabi, Riyadh-bound passengers were asked to board the connecting flight after a gap of two hours.

However, after boarding the plane, the passengers were asked to deplane again for some reason.

That was when Ali realised that he had left back his passport that he had kept on the seat in the connecting flight, Emirates24|7 reported Wednesday.

When he tried to retrieve his passport, he was stopped by the authrities as it was against security rules.

It was only after the authorities informed the Indian embassy in Abu Dhabi after four days that he was issued an emergency certificate.

India's Ambassador to the UAE T.P. Seetharam told the newspaper that there was a standard procedure to issue an emergency certificate on obtaining a police report.

He said the Indian embassy officials issued the emergency certificate after verifying his credentials and ascertaining that his case was genuine.

The embassy officials could not take action earlier because nobody approached them, he added.