DUBAI : The first phase of evacuation of Indians stranded in Lebanon was completed on Friday, after two Air India flights ferried them home from Larnaca, where they had been brought by ship.

While one of the flights headed for Mumbai, the other was bound for Chennai.

"The decision ... was taken in advance as most of the individuals who had sought evacuation were from South Indian States or Punjab," India's Ambassador to Lebanon, Nengcha Lhouvum, told The Hindu over telephone from Beirut.

Earlier, Indian Navy warship, INS Mumbai docked at 2:30 a.m. local time at the Larnaca harbour in Cyprus. The ship that left Beirut on Thursday evening had 608 persons on board, including 20 women and two children.

Defence sources said seven Nepalese, one Sri Lankan, two Lebanese nationals with Indian spouses and a family from Goa having U.S. citizenship had also boarded it.

India's Ambassador to Cyprus, Neelam Sabharwal, said the immigration authorities in Cyprus boarded INS Mumbai even before it docked. Consequently, all the formalities related to immigration were minimised and completed before the passengers disembarked. The evacuees were then transported to the airport in buses. The flight to Chennai took off at 1.40 p.m. local time, while the plane for Mumbai left an hour later.

Diplomatic sources said that it was likely that the next phase of evacuation would begin on Sunday, as the mandatory paperwork to enable them to travel out of Lebanon had not been completed. The total numbers likely to seek evacuation in the next batch would be around 400.

INS Brahmaputra was on stand-by in Lebanese waters and could move into Beirut harbour within three hours.

The body of an Indian national, Divesh Kumar Swain, who was killed when Israeli planes bombed a glass factory near Beirut, has been recovered. His body would now be transported to Damascus and sent by air to his hometown in Orissa. Three other Indians who were injured have been admitted to hospital in Beirut.

© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu