1,200 foreigners evacuated from Misrata to Benghazi
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Xinhua, April 21, 2011
About 1,200 foreigners including Egyptians, Sudanese and Nigerians, evacuated by ship from Misrata, the city some 210 km east of the Libya capital of Tripoli, and arrived at the eastern city of Benghazi on Wednesday morning.
The foreigners who have been stranded in Misrata for more than one month were carried by a ferry ship "Rigel." Although everyone looks very tried, the passengers felt relaxed that they finally get out of danger.
"I and my family have never been falling asleep for a single whole night, " Akindele Lookman, a Nigerian worker in his 40s told Xinhua. "The government troops and rebels keep fighting from day to night. We are very frightened."
Misrata was gained by Libyan oppositions in late Feb. after the huge anti-government protests broke out in this northern African country, which demand the leader Muammar Gaddafi ending his 42 years rule.
The Libyan government troops have launched military operations to regain Misrata since early March. The city has been under siege of the forces loyal to Gaddafi, leading to thousands of foreigners and injured civilians stranded inside the city, and the only way to leave the blockade is by humanitarian ships send by neighboring countries.
The humanitarian operation to evacuate the foreign and local civilians are under its way, however, there are still thousands of people waiting at Misrata port, the passengers told Xinhua.
"I worked in Misrata for 25 years. It was my second home," an old Sudanese Sami Salaf Ding said. "The war destroyed my house and my car, now we have to return Sudan and start everything from beginning," the old painter said sadly.
The local charity workers told Xinhua that, with the help from the international community, they will try their best to arrange the foreigners to return their home countries as soon as possible. "However, we have to feed them before they go back," a volunteer Mustafa Bosn said.
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