SEPANG: “Not in my wildest dreams, would I have imagined the situation in Libya to be that chaotic.”
This was how Naveen Pathmanathan summed up the country’s turmoil when asked to share his experiences during the uprising where the people demonstrated against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, demanding that he step down.
“I can never forget the incident. On the way to the city, I saw bodies on the road, the people were carrying various types of weapons and there were shoot-outs.
“It was very frightening,” said the senior document controller of Malaysia Ranhill Berhad, who has been working in Libya for the past four years.
Naveen, 36, is among 98 Malaysian citizens who arrived home safely today, after they were evacuated to Rome, Italy from the strife-torn North African country.
For Shahrizal Zulkifli, 33, who was stranded at the Tripoli International Airport for the longest 12 hours, the situation at the airport was nothing short of a “war zone”.
“Military personal, police and the public were everywhere. Some of them were bleeding, unconscious and sirens of ambulance could be heard wailing every minute,” he said.
His view was shared by Shaiful Abdul Rahim Abdul Wahab, 40.
“We were stranded at the airport for 12 hours and when we got out, there was a shoot-out between the police and those boarding the plane. I was so scared, especially when we were being relocated from one place to another,” said the man from Sungai Buloh.
Salwah Shamsudin, 26, on the other hand, described the situation at the airport as that of a refugee camp.
“It was like a refugee camp, with too many people wanting to get out, but did not have a ticket.” — Bernama