New Delhi, March 01: Third special flight with 266 Indians on board arrived here late tonight from strife-torn Libya, Minister for Civil Aviation Vayalar Ravi said.The minister said another flight evacuating 331 more Indians from Libyan capital Tripoli will arrive in the morning.Ravi, who is also the Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs, was at the terminal 2 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport to receive the Indians evacuated from the Libyan capital Tripoli.Evacuees arrived here in Airbus 330 at around 1:30 am.
The flight AI-800 was originally a Jeddah-Mumbai flight, but it was converted into a special ferry aircraft and was diverted to Tripoli to bring back the stranded Indians from Libya, which is witnessing mass anti-government protests.
Three more aircraft– two Boeing 747-400 and Airbus 330 will be flying to Tripoli to evacuate the Indians.Ravi said 1,100 people have been evacuated from Benghazi and ferried by a ship to Alexandria in Egypt.”Out of 18,000 Indians, 10,000 are stranded in Tripoli,” he said.Yesterday, India has brought back over 530 of its nationals by two special Air India planes.He praised the efforts of Indian embassy officials in Libya for helping Indians in getting out of the country and said his ministries are working in co-ordination with other ministries for evacuating Indians from Libya.
——–PTI