Sounds like wrong place at the wrong time.
If the C/C had gone out of hours it seems a strange decision to leave the pax at VCE and return the aircraft unless for example the crew were on day 7 (the max allowed without a day off)
Most other airlines would have left the crew and aircraft in VCE and flown back after min rest, but if they could find xx hotel rooms for the crew and none for the pax it may have been a operational decision to avoid such a scenario, most pax would understand this situation perhaps, you have to consider the small minority however.
Whilst it was a complete
PR disaster at least the pax got back, had it been a LOWCO what would have happened??...