Navy and RAF rescue Britons from 'chaos'

Exhausted and frayed, Britons began arriving back home from Libya yesterday describing the desperate conditions they had just left as the rescue operation finally swung into action.

They spoke of armed militias roaming the streets of Tripoli and a "humanitarian disaster" at the airport where thousands were living in unsanitary conditions, desperate to get out of the country.

"The airport is absolute chaos. There's just thousands and thousands of people trying to get out.," said Helena Sheehan, who was among the first 78 people to arrive in Britain on a BP-chartered flight to Gatwick airport. She recalled burning buildings amid the gunfire.

The second flight, carrying 24 passengers, landed at Gatwick last night. This was followed by a British Foreign and Commonwealth Office-chartered flight carrying 177 adults and four children, which left Tripoli yesterday morning before stopping at Malta.

Passengers said the chaos at Tripoli was compounded by having to wait in rain and hail for hours as the city experienced its worst weather in years.

There was also anger about the British Government's response to the crisis. Andrew Briscoe, a former Army Sgt-Major from Hereford, said of the evacuation operation: "The one word I can think of is shambolic." He added of the wait: "The atmosphere was very tense. There was mad panic. The Libyan riot police were trying to keep people away."

Susie Bridges, from Bournemouth, an English teacher trainer, said: "We were lucky because we got to leave, but we had to walk past thousands and thousands of Egyptians – Egyptian migrant workers who were looking to get home. We were just there for 24 hours. These people had been there for two or three days. And are likely to be there for days more."

A British mother and her newborn baby were evacuated from Libya by an Irish government plane. She had given birth by Caesarean section and the jet was used because it had a medical team on it. The mother was evacuated with her baby, two other children and husband to Malta.

The frigate HMS Cumberland evacuated 68 Britons and 140 other people from Benghazi while Special Forces and Army units were on standby to rescue 170 trapped oil workers if needed. Capt Steve Dainton said the evacuees had come aboard with "harrowing tales of violence" and were relieved to be leaving safely.

Stormy conditions delayed the vessel's departure but last night it was sailing toward Malta where the passengers will disembark. The ship was on its way home to be decommissioned when it was diverted to the Libyan coast.