Evacuated Britons tell of Cairo 'war zone'

Britons arriving home after fleeing escalating violence in Egypt describe Cairo as full of marauding thugs

Britons arriving home after fleeing escalating violence in Egypt described Cairo as a war zone with marauding thugs and escaped prisoners terrorising the streets.

Some of the 161 passengers arriving last night at Gatwick Airport on a Foreign Office-chartered flight spoke of their relief at escaping the riot-hit city.

Among those fleeing the violence was 16-year-old Shukria Ahmed-Nur who told how marauding thugs terrorised the streets near where she lived.

She said: "There were men with samurai swords, machetes and other weapons.

"They were outside our apartments, walking up and down the stairs, which was really scary.

"We were just hoping we would get out alive."

Mother-of-two Jala Ibrahim, 33, from Fulham, west London, said: "The country is in a really bad state at the moment. It's a bit like a war zone but the people are fighting for their rights."

Robert Mant, 34, who lives in Cairo with his 33-year-old Egyptian wife Kariman, said he saw escaped prisoners dressed in civilian clothes roaming the streets.

He said: "There are gun battles between prisoners in the streets. I got hit by a rock. It's disgusting, it's a disgrace what is happening."

Stephanie Harkin, 25, teacher from Luton, Bedfordshire, said: "Our main problem was prisoners escaping from a nearby prison. We had a lot of men outside our house and so we had to create a makeshift neighbourhood watch.

"We had to sleep with knives by us as well. Across the road on the next compound there were reports that seven people had been killed and that neighbours had been attacked by thieves."

Foreign Secretary William Hague condemned the violence as "reprehensible".

The Foreign Office has chartered a second plane tomorrow to bring home stranded Britons.

British nationals without a pressing need to be in Cairo, Alexandria or Suez were urged to leave by com! mercial means, where it was safe to do so.


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