All eyes were fixed on the Arrivals’ switchboard at the Malta International Airport yesterday, when the 12.05 p.m. Air Malta flight from Tripoli was delayed by two-and-a-half-hours.
Anxious parents and employees paced around the hall, mobile phones clutched in hand.
“We became afraid when we heard protestors were on their way to Tripoli, and internet service was shut down on Friday. When you can’t contact your own child, your whole world comes crumbling down,” a worried mother told The Times.
Her daughter, Maria Micallef, 20, based in Palm City, has been commuting between Malta and Libya for the past two-and-a-half years.
An anxious 30-year-old woman, whose husband works with Ms Micallef, recounted how he had booked his flight early that morning. She said the last couple of days were “hell”, especially when telephone lines kept playing up.
Emanuel Degiorgio, managing director of Bad Boy Cleaners, said the company had 80 employees stationed in Libya where it had operated for the last three years. Of these, 10 were Maltese aged between 21 and 40. Five made it back to Malta last week to renew their visa while the other five returned yesterday.
When Maltese workers, who were scattered across the region, learnt about the protests from their own relatives, they gathered in small groups in Palm City, Mr DeGiorgio said.
“My employees are part of my family and I feel responsible for all of them. I went to bed at about 4 a.m., but got up two hours later. At the moment I feel like passing out,” he added.
Another agitated father said his daughter had been working with Corinthia hotel in Libya for over two years. Shifting from one leg to the other, he added this was the second time his family had gone through a similar experience after trouble last year erupted between European countries and Libya.
Col Gaddafi was a force to be reckoned with and people should not mess with him if they wanted to safeguard their lives, he said.
Together with his wife, they rushed towards their daughter as she made her way through the Arrivals’ sliding doors.
Relief swept over those present, as more passengers made their way out.
“We made it back alive after three terrorising days,” Marvin Vella, 29, said, adding that together with his colleagues he had been looking for flights out of the country and had considered catching a plane to Rome.
Ms Micallef said they had been at the Tripoli airport since 6 a.m., all tense but oblivious to what was actually going on around them.
Others were just settling down in Tripoli when they were told to get out of the country and back to Malta as soon as possible. A 21-year old Maltese woman said she had just arrived in the North African country two days ago and once everything quietened down, would be willing to return.
A foreign construction businessman managed to bring over 13 of his employees. None of his staff are Maltese but the company is trying to get all of its workers out.
“No matter what plane they catch, or what country they land in, the most important thing is that they get out of there as soon as possible” he said.
A Maltese businessman, who has worked in Libya for several years, said he put pressure on Air Malta, embassies and organisations to formulate the necessary documents for the evacuation of Maltese. “It’s not so drastic yet, but it could get ugly,” he said.
Asked whether he planned on going back, he chuckled: “Somebody needs to fill Gaddafi’s place.”
A 35-year old foreigner, living in Gargaresh, Libya, and who made it to Malta safe and sound with her son, said they could hear people shooting at police stations on Sunday.
“We just hope my husband will manage to get out of the country in the coming days, and pray that our Libyan friends make it through this chaos,” she added.
Some passengers said they had been stopped by Col Gaddafi’s troops in plain clothes on their way to the airport, while pro-government activists roamed the streets blaring their car horns and waving Libyan flags.
Others recounted how at times the electronic check-in system at Tripoli airport was shut down and passengers were accounted for manually. Sunday night was terrible in Tripoli. A Libyan businessman said: “The shooting lasted between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. We did not encounter any protests on our way to the airport, however, the situation at the airport was quite chaotic, as everyone was fighting for the last remaining seats to get out of the country.”
The plane’s pilot said the flight was delayed as Air Malta attempted to take on as many passengers as it could, adding there had been fears the Libyan government could close its airspace.
Kaled Josef Lamlum, a Libyan man who was at the airport, said relatives and friends had told him that soldiers were now firing “Point 5 cannon balls” on citizens, which were usually used to shoot down military airplanes.
The 46-year-old, who is married to a Maltese woman, spoke of how his family had been persecuted and their house ransacked.
“Libya is a rich place but the money made from oil exportation is invested in firearms, while citizens die of hunger. There’s no place for these types of governments anymore in this world. Gaddafi’s finished, he got what he deserved.”
The passengers’ reports of protestors being fired at was corroborated by Malta’s ambassador George Cassar who said live ammunition was used, probably to disperse protestors, in the Libyan capital.
Mr Cassar told The Times that sporadic gunfire could be heard from the early hours of yesterday and after a lull in the afternoon, it picked up again later in the day.
Libyan embassy staff were allowed to stay home given the unsafe situation, he said.
A Maltese family living in the outskirts of Tripoli, who spoke on condition of anonymity, described their frantic efforts to get a flight out of Libya.
“We were informed that the next available flight was on Wednesday. People are camping out at the airport to try and flee the country,” they said. The family said they lived in a quiet neighbourhood but could see armed soldiers standing at the crossroads in various locations. Meanwhile, Maltese who contacted this newspaper complained about the exorbitant fees Air Malta was charging – its prices shot up to €401 for a one-way ticket from the usual €190 two-way ticket.
Various people expressed “disgust” at Air Malta’s sudden price hike. “We expect Air Malta to be helping Maltese people return and not try to make money off them in such a crisis,” they said.
Throughout the day, Air Malta was making efforts to operate an extra five flights to Tripoli, chartered by businesses to evacuate their workers. However, along with other airlines, they were denied permission by the Libyan authorities. Fresh attempts will be made today.
Ministry contacts
More than 100 Maltese people in Libya had made contact with the Foreign Affairs Ministry until yesterday.
The ministry made a fresh appeal to those with useful information about Maltese in Libya to call anytime on free phone 8007 2203 or send an e-mail to info.mfa@gov.mt.
Maltese in Libya can also communicate with the Maltese Embassy in Tripoli on 00218 213 602 415 (office line), 00218 913 640 565 (mobile) and 2204 2091 – 4 (VOIP).