134 Chinese fly home after being evacuated from Libya

TUNIS - More than 100 Chinese nationals have taken a homebound flight from Tunis Saturday afternoon, after being evacuated from war-torn neighboring Libya, according to the Chinese embassy.

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They were among a group of 411 Chinese workers who left Tripoli in 11 buses Friday morning and arrived in the Tunisian capital on the following day.

"A group of 134 Chinese citizens flew home with Air Algeria today, and the rest 277 people were staying at two local hotels. They will leave Tunisia in groups starting Aug. 3 ," Zhang Shuo, an official from the Chinese embassy in Tunisia, told Xinhua.

It's usually hard to book hotel rooms or flight seats during the current tourism season in Tunis, and the problem gets worse with a large influx of foreigners evacuees from Libya, Zhang said, adding the embassy is working hard to help the Chinese evacuees find local accomodation and return home as soon as possible.

"It's my first war experience, and it scared me. I'm lucky to be safe now," Gao Xu, a worker of Fushun International Construction & Economic Cooperation Group, told Xinhua.

Gao repeatedly expressed gratitude to the Chinese embassy for its assistance in helping him crossing the border.

Heavy fighting in Libya's capital of Tripoli and the eastern city of Benghazi between rival militias have left at least 214 people dead and 981 others wounded since July 13. Many countries have closed embassies and evacuated their nationals from the country.