Another 18 Bulgarian citizens and their relatives, evacuated from Gaza via Egypt, landed today at Sofia airport with a flight through Rome, reports BNT.
Some of those brought out of Gaza are have tried to leave the area since the beginning of the escalation of the conflict, but so far without success.
They describe the horror of what is happening and pray that its end is near. They also share that they left other relatives and loved ones in Gaza.
Bulgarians evacuated from Gaza cannot yet return to our country
Their flight from Cairo was delayed
“A total of 30 of the 36 Bulgarian citizens and members of their families, who were successfully evacuated with the first possible group from the Gaza Strip to Egypt, are now in Bulgaria. Of their own accord, 6 have stayed in Cairo with their relatives.”
This was specified on Saturday by the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Maria Gabriel, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced.
First with a civil flight from Cairo to Sofia via Athens on November 3, a family of three arrived. Today, the rest of the Bulgarian citizens and their family members successfully landed in two groups – 18 people on a flight from Rome and 9 on a flight from Istanbul.
“In less than 48 hours, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, our diplomatic representations in Cairo, Ramallah and Tel Aviv, the consular services in Athens, Istanbul and Rome and the “Situation Center” directorate in full mobilization and with coordinated efforts managed to organize the smooth transportation of our compatriots and their families to Bulgaria,” said Deputy Prime Minister Gabriel.
“From their evacuation from the Gaza Strip to their successful repatriation, the teams of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were committed to providing full assistance and support to Bulgarian citizens and their families. Bulgaria is among the first countries that successfully carried out the evacuation and repatriation of its citizens and members of their families. I express my gratitude to all the parties involved in the process and to the employees of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” said Maria Gabriel.
We recall that a day earlier it was reported that the arrival of the first group of Bulgarians and members of their families has been postponedt the Gaza Strip.
Their relatives said that during the night the group was taken to the airport in Cairo, but there it became clear that there were mistakes and problems with “lists and protocol”. As a result, everyone has been returned to their hotels and their flight has been delayed until today.
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A total of 36 people – Bulgarian citizens and members of their families – were were successfully brought out of the Gaza Strip into Egypt through the Rafah border crossing. One of our compatriots has asked to stay.
