Greek military plane carries 60 people out of Beirut to Cyprus

Nicosia, Oct 4 (IANS) A Greek C-130 military transport plane landed at Larnaca airport on Thursday carrying 60 people in the first emergency air evacuation from Lebanon, Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said in a statement.

Aboard the plane were 38 Cypriots and 22 Greeks, who continued their journey to Athens, Xinhua news agency reported.

Kombos said that Cyprus will charter a commercial flight to bring more Cypriot nationals out of Lebanon in the coming days, adding that citizens of other countries, who have no other means to flee, will be accepted on board.

Middle East Airlines, which still operates two flights a day out of Beirut airport to Larnaca, said that all its flights to Larnaca had been sold out for the foreseeable future. Cyprus Airways, which operates one daily flight to Beirut, said all tickets are sold out until the end of this month.

According to Kombos, Cyprus can provide accommodation to 7000 evacuees for a short period. "The logic behind this arrangement is that evacuees from Lebanon must arrange their departure to their countries soon so that Cyprus can offer assistance to a larger number of evacuees," he explained.

Since the conflict in the Middle East escalated, Cyprus has activated its "Estia" plan, which aims to turn the nearest European country to Lebanon into a hub for third-country nationals to transfer back to their own countries.

The Foreign Ministry said 11 countries had undertaken consultations with the ministry over the operation of the "Estia" plan.

Some countries have also sent troops to Cyprus to assist in the evacuation of their nationals, as Israeli forces intensify their action against Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.

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