Video captures the moment the C-130 of the Greek Air Force lands in Beirut as part of the first operation to repatriate Greek and Cypriot citizens by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

C-130 in Beirut

The C-130 arrived shortly after 16.00 noon on Thursday, in Elefsina. Earlier, at 13.30 in the afternoon the C-130 landed in Larnaca.

According to the announcement of the Minister of Foreign Affairs the Greek Embassy in Beirut remains fully prepared to provide all possible consular assistance to Greeks living in Lebanon.

“I was in Lebanon and we wanted to come to Larnaca, where my daughter is starting her studies, and there were no flights, nothing. My son is already abroad, we were ‘imprisoned’, there was no other way to leave because the planes in the Middle East are full and you don’t find flights in less than 10 days,” says one of the 60 people after landing, adding :

“Every day the situation is getting worse and we don’t know what will happen tomorrow, whether the airport will be closed or not. And we thank you for the initiative of the Greek government that hastened with this move to get some (people) who need to leave Lebanon urgently.”

The video shows people outside the plane door clapping.

“We feel relaxed, no more tension. It is very bad, what happened in Lebanon, very bad, disorganized and unplanned. They shouldn’t have done that. We have nothing to do with war. Lebanon has nothing to do with war, like all other countries. So, I don’t know why they do this. What is it for? For power or for what?”, says a woman who returned from Beirut.

C-130 landing