Rescued Indian nurses vow not to return back to Libya

Expressing gratitude to the government for ensuring their safe return, Indian nurses who had been trapped in Libya till some days ago, narrated their harrowing experiences and vowed not to return there for livelihood.

Nancy Elizabeth Baby said, "In Libya the situation is very horrible, for last two-three months there was bombing and shooting, but for the last two-three weeks the situation deteriorated further and we did not have any road to escape anywhere and we were not able to sit at our home and that's why we approached our government. We are very thankful to our Indian ambassador in Libya and in Tunisia they treated us very well. Right now we are very happy that we can breathe freely and have reached home safely. I will never go there. 48 members arrived today, four are in Delhi and 44 are in Kerala, we all belonged from the same hospital."

Another nurse named Reena Mathew told ANI, "Very bad experience, always there was sound of bombing and shelling so everybody was scared. We thank our chief minister and Indian ambassador in Tripoli and in Tunisia, they helped us. Most of us have three-four months' salary due. Embassy helped a lot, because of their hard work we reached here today."

Many nurses from Kerala had gone to Tripoli a year back and concern grew after militant groups fighting for control reached Tripoli and targeted the airport.

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy had reportedly written to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj seeking the Centre's help in arranging flights for the nurses' return.

Fighting between rival militias in Tripoli over the past three weeks and bloody clashes between Islamists and Army in the eastern city of Benghazi in Libya have prompted several countries to evacuate their nationals and diplomatic staff.

Militias controlling large parts of the country are behind Libya's worst violence since the 2011 uprising that toppled Col Muammar Gaddafi.

In 2011, the Indian government carried out a "mammoth operation" involving planes and ships to evacuate thousands of nationals from conflict-hit Libya.