(16 Jul 2006)
1. Various of C130 Italian military airplanes which were used for evacuations on Saturday evening
2. Wide exterior of Larnaca Airport
3. Mid of sign reading “Larnaca Airport”
4. People exiting airport
5. Close-up of monitor showing flight arrivals information
6. Evacuees with luggage walking out to arrivals lounge
7. Set up of Lebanese evacuee Azar Agha pushing luggage on trolley
8. SOUNDBITE: (English) Azar Agha, Lebanese evacuee:
“The situation (in Lebanon) is terrible. It’s very bad and getting worse every minute. We really need help from all over the world. It’s very, very bad. You have to think of human rights and see what’s going on there, really, everybody has to help because really, they (Israeli forces) are demolishing the country, it’s unbelievable.”
9. Azar Agha greeted by male friend
10. Woman walking out of terminal, covering her face with her hand
11. Cypriot police officer smiling
12. Group of evacuees with luggage walking out to arrivals lounge
13. Cutaway of cameraman
14. SOUNDBITE: (English) Emily Zambas, Evacuee:
“Now, I am shaking. When I landed in Cyprus, I thank God I am safe with my family, thank you.”
(continuous shot of her walking out)
15. SOUNDBITE: (Greek) Stefanie Yeorgiou, Evacuee:
“It was dangerous, you didn’t know if the road was safe, you go on and on, but you are all the time worried that a bomb is going to fall on you, but it’s okay we managed to be safe. Thank God.”
16. Various of people walking outside airport with luggage
About 350 people, most of them European citizens, were evacuated overnight from Lebanon to Cyprus through Syria on Italian military flights, officials said on Sunday.
The evacuees, who included Spaniards, Italians, Austrians, Czechs and Irish, were flown to Cyprus’ Larnaca airport on five flights from Latakia, a foreign ministry official.
They were carried out by Italian C-130 military transport planes.
At noon on Sunday, an Olympic Airways flight chartered by the Greek government briefly landed in Larnaca with 140 people, mostly Greeks and Cypriots, evacuated from Lebanon.
It later landed in Athens after dropping off 40 Cypriots and 10 foreign nationals in Cyprus.
Passengers on the plane said it had taken them 15 hours to drive from Beirut to Damascus, Syria, using lengthy routes to bypass bomb-damaged highways.
One Lebanese evacuee, Azar Agha, described the situation in Lebanon as being “terrible” and “getting worse every minute.”
“We really need help from all over the world. It’s very very bad. You have to think of human rights and see what’s going on there, really, everybody has to help because really, they (Israeli forces) are demolishing the country, it’s unbelievable,” Agha added.
Another evacuee said,” It was dangerous, you didn’t know if the road was safe, you go on and on, but you are all the time worried that a bomb is going to fall on you, but it’s okay we managed to be safe. Thank God.”
Greek Foreign Ministry officials said more chartered planes would be heading to Syria to help evacuation efforts, with one flight expected later on Sunday.
About 2,500 Greeks live in Lebanon.
Meanwhile, a ferry chartered by France was expected to sail from Cyprus to Lebanon later on Sunday.
France, which has historic ties to Lebanon, moved aggressively to protect its more than 20-thousand citizens there, some 17-thousand of them residents of Lebanon, sending military planes and vessels and providing a ferry service to Cyprus.
Cyprus has said it will provide port and airport facilities for the evacuation of European and other nationals from Lebanon.
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