Tired, drawn faces. The stories tell of the fear experienced in recent days, the explosions heard but also the relief of being, now, safe in Italy. The unknown of when they will be able to return to the country where they live and where they left family, colleagues and friends. This is the state of mind, at Fiumicino airport, of many of the 178 compatriots, a good part of whom have dual Italian and Lebanese passports, who arrived during the night on the charter flight from Beirut organized with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and landed at 1:15.

At the Roman port, the embrace, between emotion and joy, with the relatives who came to welcome them.

"The situation is getting worse and we are worried about the people we know who have remained in Lebanon ," says a young worker from an Italian NGO. "I returned with two colleagues. I hope the situation can improve soon, but I don't think it will. I hope we can stop all this and go back there soon."

"We decided yesterday to come to Italy after the Embassy contacted us telling us that this charter was available - the story of an Italian-Lebanese, who arrived with his wife -. The situation is very complicated in Lebanon and at this point we decided that it was better to be safe in Italy and then see what to do, depending on how the situation evolves. The Italian ambassador in Beirut did a wonderful job. Now we are happy to be in Italy ."

And again the words of another compatriot: «After the escalation of the last few days we decided to return to Italy: the bombings, after the southern provinces, reached Beirut. We were scared. The explosions were heard throughout the city. Even though we were in generally safe neighborhoods it was impossible not to hear them. Two days ago they told us about the opportunity of this flight, then confirmed last night: we decided to leave. The saddest thing was above all to leave behind, in Lebanon, those who are not as fortunate as us, colleagues, Lebanese friends, and get on this flight. We left behind a lot of sadness for a country collapsing, under the bombs. We don't know now when we will be able to return home to Lebanon: it's all very sad, let it be known that the country is experiencing difficult, terrible days». « No one thought that the bombings would reach the center of Beirut: some missiles fell two kilometers from my house which shook everything », the testimony of another Italian.

"The Italian Government has done a good job in assisting us and allowing our arrival in Italy. When the situation got worse in Beirut city, due to the bombings, we decided to come to Italy. The Embassy was immediately active, available, contacted us, everything was fast and in 24 hours it organized this trip. I have family in Padua and now we will see how things go", the words of a citizen with dual Italian-Lebanese passport.

"I took the opportunity to return to Italy. The ambassador has always assisted us, he has always been with us. Of course, the situation in Lebanon is difficult. A political decision is needed to find a solution ," another testimony.

Finally, a young Italian-Lebanese woman who arrived with her parents: «They contacted us two days ago for the flight. We organized ourselves and decided to leave. We were so scared, we were traumatized, I have no words. We lived in the southern part of Lebanon, we heard the explosions. We drove 15 hours to get to Beirut and they were days of great tension and tiredness».

(Unioneonline/vl)

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