Chinese returning home from Libya
Source: Xinhua |
February 24, 2011, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
China's first chartered plane sent to evacuate its citizens from Libya left Beijing yesterday afternoon.
Carrying a joint task group of officials from various ministries, the aircraft, an Air China Airbus A330-200, took off at about 5:15pm with food, medicine and other supplies on board.
The plane was due to have a stopover in Athens before heading to Libya's capital Tripoli, and a second plane is expected to take off early today.
Since the unrest began in Libya on February 16, 300 people - 111 soldiers and 189 civilians - have been killed, according to statistics released by the Libyan State TV.
Chinese firms had been attacked and Chinese nationals injured, China's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.
In addition to the chartered planes, four ocean liners, hired by Chinese embassies in Greece and Malta, were on their way to waters near Libya, and the Chinese Embassy in Egypt had also hired about 100 buses to bring Chinese nationals out of Libya, the ministry said.
Greek Minister of Maritime Affairs, Islands and Fisheries Ioannis Diamantidis promised to provide assistance for China's evacuation of its citizens from Libya.
Diamantidis said the Greek government had ordered its local governments to do their best to cooperate with the Chinese side.
He said the island of Crete, a transfer place for people evacuated from Libya's Benghazi, could provide accommodation for Chinese nationals.
The majority of Chinese in Libya are employees of Chinese companies with operations in the country.
Early yesterday, a group of 83 Chinese workers were evacuated to Egypt, and were heading home from the north port city of Alexandria, the Chinese Embassy in Egypt said. The first group of 43 left for Beijing on a commercial flight at 1:25pm yesterday.
A second group were flying to Shanghai on another commercial flight at 5:30pm, the embassy said.
All were workers with China Building Technique Group Co Ltd, and had been working on a university construction site 500 kilometers from Benghazi.
Their compound was ransacked last weekend, and they had to rent 10 minibuses to go the Libyan-Egyptian border.
They arrived there on Tuesday night and were received by the Chinese embassy staff and taken to Alexandria yesterday morning.
A construction site run by Huafeng Construction Co Ltd from Zhejiang Province was looted by a armed gangsters on Sunday in the eastern city of Agedabia, and nearly 1,000 Chinese workers there were forced out of their living quarters.
The Chinese Embassy in Libya has established contact with all Chinese firms in the country and is working with relevant departments at home to safeguard national interests and protect the safety and property of Chinese nationals, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu told reporters at a news briefing in Beijing on Tuesday.
Carrying a joint task group of officials from various ministries, the aircraft, an Air China Airbus A330-200, took off at about 5:15pm with food, medicine and other supplies on board.
The plane was due to have a stopover in Athens before heading to Libya's capital Tripoli, and a second plane is expected to take off early today.
Since the unrest began in Libya on February 16, 300 people - 111 soldiers and 189 civilians - have been killed, according to statistics released by the Libyan State TV.
Chinese firms had been attacked and Chinese nationals injured, China's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.
In addition to the chartered planes, four ocean liners, hired by Chinese embassies in Greece and Malta, were on their way to waters near Libya, and the Chinese Embassy in Egypt had also hired about 100 buses to bring Chinese nationals out of Libya, the ministry said.
Greek Minister of Maritime Affairs, Islands and Fisheries Ioannis Diamantidis promised to provide assistance for China's evacuation of its citizens from Libya.
Diamantidis said the Greek government had ordered its local governments to do their best to cooperate with the Chinese side.
He said the island of Crete, a transfer place for people evacuated from Libya's Benghazi, could provide accommodation for Chinese nationals.
The majority of Chinese in Libya are employees of Chinese companies with operations in the country.
Early yesterday, a group of 83 Chinese workers were evacuated to Egypt, and were heading home from the north port city of Alexandria, the Chinese Embassy in Egypt said. The first group of 43 left for Beijing on a commercial flight at 1:25pm yesterday.
A second group were flying to Shanghai on another commercial flight at 5:30pm, the embassy said.
All were workers with China Building Technique Group Co Ltd, and had been working on a university construction site 500 kilometers from Benghazi.
Their compound was ransacked last weekend, and they had to rent 10 minibuses to go the Libyan-Egyptian border.
They arrived there on Tuesday night and were received by the Chinese embassy staff and taken to Alexandria yesterday morning.
A construction site run by Huafeng Construction Co Ltd from Zhejiang Province was looted by a armed gangsters on Sunday in the eastern city of Agedabia, and nearly 1,000 Chinese workers there were forced out of their living quarters.
The Chinese Embassy in Libya has established contact with all Chinese firms in the country and is working with relevant departments at home to safeguard national interests and protect the safety and property of Chinese nationals, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu told reporters at a news briefing in Beijing on Tuesday.
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