Northeastern Students Experience Fyre Festival Fiasco
BOSTON (CBS) - Shireena and Lamaan El Gallal say what was marketed as a one-of-a-kind escape to the Bahamas for a music festival turned into an absolute nightmare.
"A lot of people got sick and I was traumatized," Lamaan said.
Speaking from Miami and still trying to return home to Boston, the sisters say when they got to the Fyre Fest weekend extravaganza, it was everything but luxurious.
"There was no lights, no food, or water. They were promising us all day a way to charge our phones. We were scared," Shireena said.
They said they were promised a luxury festival, but what they experienced was more like disaster relief.
Bad weather forced vendors to disassemble their tents and set up makeshift ones on the beach.
"I had to call the US Embassy saying to send a flight back. Everyone wants to come home right now. It's not a bad festival; there was no festival," Shireena said.
Things got so bad, big headliners Tyga and Blink 182 pulled out at the last minute. Meanwhile disheartened fans had doled out thousands of dollars for their package getaway.
Fyre Organizers are promising guest refunds saying, "We apologize for what all of our guests and staff went through over the last 24 hours and will work tirelessly to make this right."
To make matters worse Lamaan, who is a student a Northeastern, says their flight back to Miami was delayed for more than 5 hours on the runway.
"When the plane took off we all cheered and happy it took off," Lamaan said.
They vowed never to return to this festival again.