New Delhi:
After days of living in uncertainty and fear, over 500 Indians are finally back in the country from strife-torn Libya.
The evacuees arrived in New Delhi on two Air India flights specially chartered by the Indian government.
The first batch of 291 people from Tripoli landed in the national capital late last night, at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, after a nearly 8-hour flight from the Libyan capital.
(Read: First batch of Indians arrive from Libya)The second flight, which took off from Mumbai yesterday, landed from Libya with 237 Indians on board early today at the IGI airport.
Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahmed and Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao received the passengers who were helped by Resident Commissioners of 12 states, including Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and officials of External Affairs and Overseas Indian Affairs Ministries at the T2 International terminal.
Relieved to be home, passengers recounted the ordeal they faced in Libya.
"We were not able to sleep since the past few days, but now we can sleep...we were scared, bullet shots were heard outside our house and we could not sleep at night. We weren't able to eat. We were thinking what will happen next", said Mohammed, a worker in Libya.
Another worker, Uttam Kumar Biswas said, "We came in flights...the embassy gave us all the papers. Our company then brought us in a bus at night to the airport."
Meanwhile, 88 Indians have crossed over by road from Libya to Ras Jedir in Tunisia and were received by officials of Embassy of India in Tunis, who have set up a camp there.
"All 88, who work for Punj Lloyd, have since been housed in 'Best Hotel' in Djerba (Tunisia), from where they are likely to be flown back to India soon. Another 170 persons are likely to reach Ras Jedir today," the statement said.
India is allowed two flights every day to evacuate its nationals from Tripoli. The total number of Indians in Libya is estimated to be 18,000 and several are still awaiting their turn to be flown out of the country.