New Delhi (AsiaNews / Agencies) - A group of 65 Indian nurses
are trapped in Tripoli, Libya, where 97 people have died and 404 have been injured
in the last week of clashes between the army and Islamists. The workers - all
originating from Kerala - want to return home "immediately".
More than 1,000 Indian nationals are working in Tripoli and Benghazi, hotbeds
of fighting. More than 350 nurses of Indian nationality are employed in a
medical center in the capital.
P. Sudeep, an official of the Non-Resident Keralites' Affairs department of the State of South India, said that a total of 120 nurses "and
other workers" in Libya have called their office to try to get back home. Of
these, "65 have asked for immediate repatriation."
Oomen Chandy, Chief Minister of Kerala, spoke with the Foreign Affairs Minister
Sushma Swaraj and "asked her to arrange their evacuation."
The problem is that the Tripoli airport is closed. The nearest one is located
at Mitiga, 15 miles away.
In 2011 - at the height of the violence that led to the fall of Colonel Muammar
Gaddafi - the central government of India led a massive rescue operation to
evacuate thousands of people from areas affected by the conflict.