04/03/2011

UK Flights Rescue Over 3,000 In Libya

British rescue efforts are continuing to help those stranded in Libya.

A UK airlift operation to Cairo has now transported over 3,000 Egyptians trying to escape the violence in Libya.

As UK charities warn of a "potential humanitarian crisis", three UK-chartered planes have already made 12 flights from Djerba airport in Tunisia to Cairo. British flights hope to rescue a total of 6,000 Egyptians.

Andrew Mitchell, the International Development Secretary, has now arrived in Tunisia.

He said "progress was being made" in the humanitarian effort and added that Britain was sending two logistics experts to Djerba.

Earlier this week, Department for International Development (DfID) teams were sent to the border to distribute 36,000 blankets and tents to 1,500 people in Tunisia.

The International Organisation for Migration have said that almost 200,000 people have fled Libya, into Egypt, Tunisia and Niger since the unrest.

Around 80,000 are thought to have entered Tunisia, with thousands still stranded on the Libyan side of the border.

(BMcN)


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