Niger: a fourth French plane took off from Niamey, more than 500 nationals evacuated

2023-08-03 03:17:53

A fourth plane carrying French and foreign nationals established in Niger took off Wednesday evening from Niamey, bringing the total number of evacuees to 992, including 560 French, said the General Staff of the Armed Forces. The aircraft should land at Roissy (Val d’Oise) around 1 a.m.

In response, General Tiani in a televised speech, head of the junta in Niger assured that the French had “no objective reason to leave” the country. French nationals “have never been the object of the slightest threat”, he declared.

A fifth French government plane landed in Niamey on Wednesday evening to evacuate new French and European nationals, the same source said. This flight should be the very last, it was said.

At the end of the third evacuation flight, 736 people had been evacuated, including 498 French people, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced earlier on .

A first plane took off from Niamey on Tuesday evening, and landed shortly after at 1:30 a.m. at Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport. “There are 262 people on board the plane, which is an Airbus A330, including a dozen babies,” French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said in the evening, explaining that “almost all of the passengers (were ) compatriots”.

600 French nationals have expressed the wish to return to France

The second aircraft landed in Paris around 4 a.m. Among the foreign nationals taken in charge by the French authorities, the Quai d’Orsay mentions the presence of Nigerian, Portuguese, Belgian, Ethiopian, Lebanese, German, Canadian, Indian, American and Austrian passengers. Of the approximately 1,200 French people registered on the consular lists in Niger, according to Paris, 600 nationals had expressed the wish to return to France on Tuesday.

Italy had also chartered a plane to transport its nationals who wished to leave the country. 68 civilians (36 Italians and 21 Americans), as well as 18 Italian soldiers, were thus evacuated on Wednesday morning on board a Boeing 767 of the Italian Air Force. Just under 500 Italian nationals reside in Niger, most of whom are military personnel.