Fifty-eight Indian nurses from Libya are on their way back home, the government said on Friday, while making a fresh appeal to all Indians in the strife-torn African nation to leave in view of the deterioration in situation.
The external affairs ministry said the government had made arrangements for a special flight as well as a ferry, besides taking other measures, to evacuate those wanting to return home from Libya.
The nurses, mostly from Kerala, reached border post of Ras Jedir on way to Tunisia, external affairs ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin told reporters here.
Read:Libya hospitals face collapse if Indian staff flee
“We hope that by late night, all the nurses will be in Tunis. We have made arrangements for them to fly back to their home state,” he said.
The returning nurses include a couple from Delhi and some from Hyderabad.
Akbaruddin said following the success of this effort, a smaller number of people will travel in the coming days.
Akbaruddin said following the success of this effort, a smaller number of people will travel in the coming days.
“We are reiterating our view that all those who are in Libya should return home because the circumstances there have deteriorated since we last sent out an advisory,” he said.
“We have also arranged for, if it is required, a special flight to come to Djerba which is two hours from the border of Libya but shorter than Tunis.”
Akbaruddin added, “We are ready... We have kept flight ready with clearances being taken, should that be required.”
Fighting between rival militias in Tripoli over the past three weeks and bloody clashes between Islamists and army’s special forces in the eastern city of Benghazi have plunged Libya into crisis.
Read:50 Indian nurses to be shifted from Libya to Tunisia